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Following the Master. 



Short Studies in the Christian Life 

By ERNEST EVERETT DAY. 




a a for sale by 0000000 
The PILGRIM PRESS, 175 Wabash Avenue, Chicago. 



THE U8RAKY OF 
CONGRESS. 

TWO COHfcd RECEIVED 

OCT. 5 1901 

COFVHIQHT ENTKY 

i 0t f- /- f<?0l 
CLASS ^txXc No. 

/ fl'2> 

COPY E. 






Copyright 1901, by ERNEST EVERETT DAY 

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 



TO THE 

Mid-week Bible Classes 

OF 1900-1901, 
THESE STUDIES ARE GRATE- 
FULLY INSCRIBED. 



PREFACE. 



In the fall of 1900, the writer, as a pastor, organized 
a mid-week Bible class for the study of the Christian 
life. It was asked, "What does it mean to be a Chris- 
tian according to the words of the Master?" 

As no elementary work could be found which 
seemed to answer the purpose, a lesson was prepared 
each week and read to the class, some of whom wrote 
out in full even the scripture references. The lesson 
was thoroughly discussed and the references read in 
the class. The attempt was made to teach the Chris- 
tian life as a consistent whole, something worth living 
for, and, if need be, worth dying for. 

The interest taken by the class and the help appar- 
ently given them have encouraged the writer to revise 
the studies and put them into a more permanent form. 
They are sent forth with the hope and prayer that they 
may be used in some way, however humble, for the 
progress of the kingdom. 



Contents. 



CHAPTER. PAGE. 

I. The First Christians, - - - - 9 

II. The Supreme Teacher, 11 

III. God the Father, - - - - - 15 

IV. The Kingdom of God, - - - 19 
V. Righteousness, - - - - - 25 

VI. The Way of the Cross, 31 

VII. The Way of the Cross (Continued), - 37 

VIII. Salvation, _____ 45 

IX. Repentance, Confession, Forgiveness, 49 

X. The New Life, ----- 55 

XI. Faith and Works, - - - - 61 

XII. Love, ------- 69 

XIII. Prayer, ------ 75 

XIV. Power as Witnesses, 81 
XV. The Transformation, - - - 89 



Following the Master. 



i. 

The First Christians. 

The first Christians were the first disciples of the 
Master, those who first followed him. It was the cus- 
tom for teachers to travel about the country instruct- 
ing the people. This made it necessary for those who 
wished to know more of their teachings to follow them 
from place to place, or from village to village. These 
were their disciples. We read of the disciples of John 
the Baptist (Matt., 9:14), of the Pharisees (Matt. 
22:16), and in many places of the disciples of the 
Master. The word "disciple" is defined, "One who 
learns as opposed to one who teaches" ( 1 ) ; "One who 
follows one's teachings." (2) The call to discipleship 
was the command, "Follow me!" To be a disciple 
then was the same as being a follower. Thayer de- 
fines "follow," "To join one as his disciple, become or 
be his disciple, side with his party; to cleave stead- 
fastly to one, conform wholly to his example in living, 
and, if need be, in dying also." 

(1) Ency. Bib. Vol. I. 

(2) Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. 

9 



10 FOLLOWING THE MASTER. 

"To follow a Rabbi was the common expression for 
becoming his scholar. Thus, in the Talmud, "When 
I followed Rabbi Jochanan." (i) The Twentieth Cen- 
tury New Testament translates the phrase given as 
"in my name," in the Authorized Version (John 
14:13-14, 15:16, 16:23-24-26), as "my followers." 

Call of the First Disciples and Others: John 
1:35-46, Matt. 4:18-20, Mark 1:16-18, John 21:19-22, 
Matt. 9:9, Mark 2:14, Luke 5:27-28, Matt. 8:19-22, 
Luke 9:57-62, Mark 15:40-41. 

Some Who Refused: Mark 10:17-22, Luke 18:18- 
22, John 6:66-68. 

General Call: Matt. 10:37-39, 16:24-25, Mark 8:34, 
Luke 9:23, 14:26-33, John 12:26, Matt. 11 :28~30. 

The name Christian is found in the following pas- 
sages: Acts 11 :26, 26:28; I Peter 4:16. (See R. V.) 
Some think it is presupposed in Luke 6 :22, "and cast 
out your name as evil." 

At first various names were used among the Chris- 
tians to designate each other, such as "brethren," 
"saints," ''elect," "they that are in Christ," "they that 
are in the Lord," "they that are Christ's," and "any — 
of the Way." (2) 

The disciples are spoken of as "belonging to the 
Way." (R. V., in Acts 9:2, 19:9, 23, 22:4, 24:14-22.) 
It would certainly have been appropriate to speak of 
the Christian religion as "The Way of the Cross." 

(1) Geikie, Life of Christ, I., p. 588. 

(2) Ency. Bib. Vol. I. 



II. 

The Supreme Teacher. 

It seems probable that at first the disciples had little 
conception of the Master as anything but a teacher, 
just as other men were teachers according to the cus- 
tom of the times. It was as a teacher that most, at 
least, of his disciples followed him; that they might 
learn of him just as other disciples learned of other 
teachers. That he was a "teacher come from God;" 
that he was indeed "God manifest in the flesh," the 
writer gladly believes, but at first to his disciples and 
throughout his life to others, he was simply Jesus of 
Nazareth, who went about the country as a teacher of 
the people and a preacher of righteousness. There was 
no aureole about his head. 

I. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MASTER^ TEACHING. 

(i) With Authority: 

Teachers of all ages have found it necessary to ap- 
peal to some authority other than themselves in sup- 
port of their teachings. In line with this the lawyer 
appeals to the decisions of courts or to standard text- 
books in support of his argument. The teachers of the 
Lord's day were constantly appealing to the authority 
of Moses or of some great Rabbi in support of their 

teachings. The Master gave himself as authority: 

11 



12 FOLLOWING THE MASTER. 

"Moses said" — "but I say." "It hath been said by them 
of old" — "but I say." It was this that impressed the 
people — "the multitudes were astonished at his teach- 
ing; for he taught them as one having 1 authority, and 
not as their scribes." (R. V., Matt. 7:28-29.) 

(2) Manner: 

a. Question and Answer. Like every true teacher, 
the Master asked questions of his disciples and others, 
and from their answers adapted his reply to their 
needs. (1) 

b. Illustration and Comparison. He pointed to the 
vine, to the sparrows and to the lilies, and said when 
teaching a new truth: "It is like." "The kingdom of 
heaven is like a grain of mustard seed." 

c. Figures of Speech. The Master understood the 
helpfulness of figurative expressions and used them 
freely. "Fear not, little flock." "Let the dead bury 
their dead." "By their fruits ye shall know them ; do 
men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles ?" 

d. Short Sayings. Which the disciples and others 
could carry in their minds with greatest ease and into 
which were condensed the deepest meaning. "It is 
more blessed to give than to receive." "The Sabbath 
was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." 

e. He adapted his teachings to the needs and con- 
ditions of his diciples. "First the blade, then the ear, 

(1) See Trumbull, Yale Lectures on Sunday School, p. 32. 



THE SUPREME TEACHER. 13 

then the full corn in the ear." (i) "I have yet many 
things to say unto you, but ye can not bear them 
now." (2) 

f. By Parables. Some one has defined a parable 
as "a lesson in a story." "The parable is constructed 
to set forth a story spiritual and heavenly; this the 
fable with all its value is not; it is essentially of the 
earth, and never lifts itself above the earth." (3) 
"One can speak of a fixed principle to which he had 
regard in the shaping of his examples and parables 
for that purpose: I might designate it as the prin- 
ciple of aiming at the greatest clearness in the briefest 
compass." (4) 

Matt. 18:23-35, 21:28-31; Luke 13:6-9, 15:11-32, 
etc. 

(3) What the Master Taught: 

Like all true teachers the Master taught principles ; 
he knew that a great point was gained when his dis- 
ciples understood the principles of his teaching, and 
still more when they had learned to put those princi- 
ples into practice. So wonderful are his teachings that 
we are ever learning new lessons as we follow him, 
and are compelled to say, with Paul, "I count not 
myself yet to have apprehended." (5) 



(1) Mk. 4:28, R.V. 

(2) John 16:12. 

(3) Trench, Notes on Parables. 

(4) See Wendt, Teaching of Jesns, Vol. I, 130. 

(5) R. V. Phil. 3:13. 



14 FOLLOWING THE MASTER. 

"We mistake if we think of him as a deliverer of 
sermons ; rather was he a daily converser, with method 
more like that of Socrates than like that of a modern 
preacher." (i) 

"His spiritual intuitions are pure truth, valid for all 
ages. God, man, and the moral ideal cannot be more 
truly or happily conceived. Far from having out- 
grown his thoughts on these themes we are only be- 
ginning to perceive their true significance." (2) 

Two things are commonly accepted as being most 
prominent in the Master's teaching: 

1. God, the Father. 

2. The Kingdom of God, or of Heaven. 

To these may be added as the great fundamental 
principle of the Christian life : 

3. The Way of the Cross. 

See Matt. 4:23, 9:35, 11 :i; Mark 1:21-22, 6:6-34, 
10:1; Luke 20:1, 13:22; John 4:1-42, 7:14-28, 8:2-20; 
Matt. 13 :54 ; Mark 6 :2 ; Luke 4:15, 31-33, etc., in illus- 
tration, Mark 2:13, 4:1-2, 12:35, 14:49; Luke 19:47, 
21 :37, etc. 



(1) Clark, Outlines of Christian Theology, p. 267. 

(2) Ency. Bib. Vol. II, art. "Jesus". 



III. 

God the Father. 

The most fundamental and important teaching of 
any religion is the conception which it gives of God. 
If God be conceived of as a mere thing of wood or 
stone or as a superhuman being with the appetites and 
passions of men, such conceptions vitally influence the 
religious life. 

"The word life means to us what the word God 
means to us." (i) 

"The question of God's moral character is one 
which we cannot for a day leave unanswered. The 
sweetest sleep is embittered if we know not what is the 
nature of the God who rules us. Death is a terror if 
we are ignorant of the God into whose presence we are 
to be ushered." (2) 

The Jewish teachers of the Lord's day had ap- 
parently a much lower conception of God than the 
Old Testament prophets. This falling away from a 
high ideal was perhaps inevitable as a result of the 
formalism upon which they laid so much stress. 

"The Rabbis taught that God spends his time in 
heaven as they spent theirs on earth. He studies the 
law three hours each day, and observes all its ordi- 

(1) Stevens, Doctrine and Life, p. 72. 

(2) Stearns, Present Day Theology, p. 220. 

15 



16 FOLLOWING THE MASTER. 

nances. He keeps the Sabbath. He makes vows, and 
the heavenly Sanhedrin releases him when the vow has 
been performed. He also fulfills the injunction to rise 
up before the hoary head." (i) 

It was to a people with this conception of God the 
Master came with his teaching of God as our Hea- 
venly Father. He called God Father, thus setting the 
example to his followers. The name is used fifteen 
times in the Sermon on the Mount and ninety times in 
the Gospel of John. 

He called God his Father when he prayed and taught 
his disciples to do so. Matt. 1 1 125-27, 26 :39~42 ; Luke 
23 :34~36. The Pharisee and the Publican in their 
prayers said "God," not "Father." Luke 18:11-13. 
"This portrayal was doubtless true to life. In the Gos- 
pels no one but Jesus speaks of God as his father." (2) 

Like a true parent, our Heavenly Father, the Master 
teaches, takes such care of his children that he num- 
bers the hairs of their heads and is more willing than 
earthly parents to give them good things. For this 
reason all anxious worry is not only unnecessary and 
harmful, but is distrust of the Father's care. It ought 
to be easy for those who believe the Father notes the 
sparrow when it falls to also believe that he will care 
for his children, who are of "more value than many 
sparrows." 



(1) Gilbert, Revelation of Jesus, p. 10. 

(2) Ibid, p. 16. 



GOD THE FATHER. 17 

There has been much discussion as to whether God 
is the Father of all or only of those who are willing 
and obedient. The answer to this question, according 
to Professors Stevens and Gilbert, is that, "God is the 
Father of all men, but men become sons of God." (i) 

In the Parable of the Prodigal Son the father re- 
mained the same even though the son wandered into the 
far country. If the prodigal be accepted as a type of 
the sinner, it is the sinner only who changes, the 
father loves him still. He is still the father, even 
though the son has broken the bonds of sonship. 

"Men are ideally, that is, according to the true divine 
idea of humanity, sons of God; but by reason of sin 
they are not actually what they are ideally and in pos- 
sibility." (2) 

"The old chief led them in prayer — a strange, dark, 
groping prayer, with streaks of heathenism coloring 
every thought and sentence ; but still a heart-breaking 
prayer, as the cry of a soul once cannibal, but now 
being thrilled through and through with the first con- 
scious pulsations of the Christ-spirit, throbbing into the 
words: 'Father, Father; our Father/ 

"When these poor creatures began to wear a piece of 
calico or a kilt, it was an outward sign of a change, 
though yet far from civilization. And when they began 
to look up and pray to one whom they called "Father, 

(1) Stevens, Doctrine and Life, p. 75. 
Gilbert, Revelation of Jesus, p. 22. 

(2) Stevens, Doctrine and Life, p. 76. 



18 FOLLOWING THE MASTER. 

our Father !" though they might be far, very far, from 
the type of Christian that dubs itself respectable, my 
heart broke over them in tears of joy; and nothing will 
ever persuade me that there was not a Divine heart in 
the heavens rejoicing too." (i) 

A missionary preached the Fatherhood of God to the 
Nelson River Indians near Hudson's Bay, who heard it 
for the first time. An old chief asked some questions : 

"You say TVofawenan (our Father). He is your 
Father?" 

"Yes, he is my Father." 

Then he said, while his eyes and voice yearned for 
the answer, "Does it mean he is my Father — poor 
Indian's Father?" 

"Yes, O yes!" I exclaimed; "he is your Father 
too." 

"Your Father — missionary's Father, and Indian's 
Father, too?" he repeated. 

"Yes, that is true," I answered. 

"Then we are brothers ?" he almost shouted out. 

"Yes, we are brothers," I replied. The excitement 
in the audience had become something wonderful." (2) 

See Matt. 6:9-15, 22:37-40, 7:11; Mark 10:18, 
12:30; Luke 11:13-15, 11:32; John 1:14, 18:2-16, 
4:21-23, 5:17-45. etc. 

See also Matt. 10:29-30, 6:8, 26, 30, 32, 5 45, 25 -.34; 
Mark 14:36; Matt. 11:25-27. 



(1) Paton's Autobiography, II, p. 146. 

(2) Young, By Canoe and Dogtrain, p. 121. 



IV. 
The Kingdom of God. 

The term "Kingdom of God" was familiar to the 
Jews. For hundreds of years the coming of the Mis- 
siah, who should "restore the Kingdom to Israel," had 
been a dominant characteristic of the teachings of the 
Rabbis and the fondest hope in the hearts of the people. 
The "Kingdom of God" meant to the Jews at least two 
important things : 

1. "The supremacy of Israel as the people of God." 

2. "The appearance of a king in the Davidic line, in 
whom the national hopes were to be realized." ( i ) 

To these may be added the idea of the repentance of 
Israel as a preparation for the kingdom, since it was 
the sins of the people which prevented its coming. 
The Rabis taught, "if the Jews repented for one day 
he would come." (2) The orthodox Jew of to-day 
still prays for the coming of the Messiah. 

When John the Baptist and the Master began their 
ministries, each with the announcement, "Repent, for 
the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand" (Matt. 3:2, 4:17), 
it came with no shock of surprise to the people. It 
was what they had been taught to expect. 



(1) Gould, Biblical Theology of the New Testament, p. 10. 

(2) Geikie, Life of Christ, Vol. I, p. 81. 

19 



20 FOLLOWING THE MASTER. 

"Whether learned or ignorant, gentle or fanatic, the 
Jew never lost his belief that the future held in store 
for his nation a universal empire, a Kingdom of 
God." (i) 

It seems probable that the Baptist's conception of the 
kingdom was very similar to that of his contempo- 
raries, but it was soon apparent that the Master's con- 
ception was so different that even John questioned his 
claim to the Messiahship. "Art thou he that should 
come or do we look for another?" (2) 

The Rabbis taught that the kingdom would consist 
only of pious Jews. The Master shocked and angered 
them with the statements: "The publicans and the 
Harlots go into the Kingdom of God before you." (3) 
"And I say unto you that many shall come from the 
east and west and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac 
and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven, but the children 
of the kingdom shall be cast into outer darkness." (4) 
"For I say unto you, that except your righteousness 
shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Phari- 
sees, ye shall in no wise enter into the Kingdom of 
Heaven." (5) It is difficult to imagine how revolu- 
tionary such statements must have seemed. 

The Jews expected that the kingdom would be ex- 
ternal, political and therefore national ; the Master 

(1) Matthews, History of New Testament Times in Palestine, p. 

162. 

(2) Luke 7:19. 

(3) Matt. 21:31. 

(4) Matt. 8:11, 12; Luke 13:28-30. 
(6) Matt. 5:20 R. V. 



THE KINGDOM OF GOD. 21 

taught that it would be ethical, spiritual, and therefore 
universal. It would have a small beginning, be "like 
a grain of mustard seed," and would grow out of all 
proportion to its beginning, (i) It would work in 
the hearts of men like leaven in meal till the whole 
was leavened. (2) From this it may be inferred 
that the time is coming when the Kingdom of God 
shall have come and the will of God be done in earth as 
in heaven. For this we are to pray. (3) 

The Master speaks of the kingdom under two as- 
pects: It is already begun, "The kingdom of heaven 
is among you," and is yet to be realized, for we are to 
pray, "Thy kingdom come." The kingdom will have 
great progress and success in this life, but its glorious 
consummation is in the life to come. 

See Matt. 6:33, 11:12, 12:28, 21:31; Luke 17:21; 
Matt. 8:11, 26:29; Mark 9:1; Luke 9:27, 13:28-30, 
14:15. 

Professor Gilbert states that the "constant element" 
in the teaching of Jesus on the kingdom of God is 
"the divine 'rule in the hearts of men." (4) 

The Master set his disciples the example of sub- 
mission to the Father ; it was he who said : "I do al- 
ways those things that please him" ; ( 5 ) who taught 
us to pray, "Thy will be done in earth as it is in 

(1) Matt. 13:31, 32; Mark 4:31, 32. 

(2) Matt. 13:33. 

(3) Matt. 6:10. See "Fremantle, the World as the Subject of 

Redemption." 

(4) "Revelation of Jesus," p. 34. 

(5) John 8:29. 



22 FOLLOWING THE MASTER. 

heaven"; (i) and who in the hour of Gethsemane 
could say, "Not as I will, but as Thou wilt." (2) 

"The true Messianic kingdom begun on earth is to 
be consummated in heaven ; it is not temporary but 
eternal ; it is not limited to one people, but embraces the 
righteous of all nations and of all times." (3) 

"The spiritual reign of God as king and over sub- 
jects loyally accepting it." (4) 

"The idea of a divine dispensation under which God 
would bestow his full salvation upon a society of men, 
who, on their part, should fulfill his will in true right- 
eousness." (5) 

"It (the Kingdom of God) signifies some form of 
divine dominion. * * * A kingdom of grace in 
order to be a kingdom of holiness." (6) 

"We must include in the programme of science a 
kingdom already constructed, but the place of which 
in science has not yet been recognized. That kingdom 
is the kingdom of God. If among the more recent rev- 
elations of nature there is one thing more significant 
for religion than another, it is the majestic spectacle 
of the rise of kingdoms toward scarcer, yet nobler 
forms, simpler yet diviner ends. This is the final tri- 
umph of continuity, the heart secret of creation, the un- 
spoken prophecy of Christianity." (7) 

(1) Matt. 6:10. 

(2) Matt. 26-39. 

(3) Encyclopaedia Biblica, Vol. II, art. Eschatology. 

(4) Century Dictionary. 

(5) Wendt, Teaching of Jesus, Vol. I, p. 175. 

(6) Bruce, Kingdom of God, pp. 46, 54. 

(7) Drummond, Natural Law in the Spiritual World. 



THE KINGDOM OF GOD. 23 

The Church and the Kingdom. 

It is a significant fact, too ofter overlooked, that 
the Master uses the word "church" only three times. 
Twice in Matt. 18:17, where it evidently refers to the 
local body of believers; and also in Matt. 16:18: "It 
is worth remarking that in this passage the church 
and the kingdom of heaven are apparently alternative 
expressions for the same thing. 'On this rock I will 
build my church — I will give unto thee the keys of the 
kingdom/ It is impossible to ignore the connec- 
tion." (1) 

"The church denotes, and can denote only, a group 
or company of persons ; the kingdom of God or of 
heaven, again, includes much more. 

"That of the church corresponds to the congrega- 
tion of Israel, so often mentioned in the history of the 
Exodus. The kingdom of God, again, corresponds to 
the idea of the theocracy, the rule of Jehovah over 
his people, and ultimately over all the earth." 

"In a word, the church is a religious notion; the 
kingdom of God a moral one." (2) 

"His kingdom was not to be an institution, but a 
fraternity, as broad as human life." (3) 

"The idea of the church is certainly narrower than 
that of the kingdom of God ; its consummation would 
not be the consummation of the latter." (4) 

(1) Denny, Studies in Theology, p. 178. 

(2) Candlish, The Christian Salvation, pp. 73, 74. 

(3) Matthews, History of N. T. Times in Palestine, p. 176. 

(4) Domer. 



24 FOLLOWING THE MASTER. 

When it is remembered that the Lord uses the phrase 
kingdom of heaven over one hundred times, while he 
uses the word church but three times, it may easily be 
inferred that the kingdom of heaven held a larger 
place in his mind than that of the church. 

A hypocrite may belong to the church, but no hypo- 
crite can belong to the kingdom of heaven. There 
must be the actual divine rule in the heart before he 
can enter the kingdom of heaven in this life, to say 
nothing of the life to come. On the other hand any 
man in whose heart God rules is a member of the 
kingdom of heaven. There is no distinction of race, 
sect or creed. Its boundaries enclose all who do God's 
will, whether on earth or in heaven. Compared with 
it, all other fraternities sink into insignificance. Mem- 
bership in it is indeed the pearl of great price for 
which one may wisely sell all that he has. 

"For aught we know, the membership of the invis- 
ible church may be far more numerous than of the vis- 
ible. I firmly believe that it is ; though from the ex- 
pressions often used, it is sometimes made to appear 
as if the opposite were the case." (i) 

Mark 15:43, 11:10; Luke 17:20, 19:11; Acts 1:6; 
John 6:15; Mark 10:37; Matt. 20:21; Mark 1:14-15; 
Mark 4:11 ; Luke 17:20; Matt. 19:23, 21 :3i ; 13:24-30, 
47-50; Matt 5:19, 11:11, 5:3-10, 21:43, 8:11; Luke 
13:29; Matt. 13:43; Mark 9:47; Luke, 22:29-30; 
Mark 14:25; Matt. 26:29. 

(1) Candlish, The Christian Salvation, p. 77. 



V. 

Righteousness. 

The Master laid most impressive emphasis upon the 
nature and necessity of righteousness in relation to the 
Kingdom of God. He said: "Except your right- 
eousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes 
and Pharisees ye shall in no wise enter into the King- 
dom of Heaven." (i) 

"Unless, indeed, your religion is superior to that of 
the Pharisees and Rabbis, you will not, I tell you, even 
enter the Kingdom of Heaven." (2) 

"Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in 
the kingdom of their Father." (3) 

"And there shall in no wise enter into it anything 
unclean or he that maketh an abomination and a lie, 
hut only they which are written in the Lamb's Book 
of Life." (4) 

"The great word which dominates the life of that 
kingdom, the word righteousness." (5) 

The necessity of righteousness is one of the deepest 
instincts of the soul. Few become so depraved but 
there remains a sense of what is right and a secret ad- 



(1) 


Matt. 5:20, R. V. 


(2) 


20th Cent. N. T. Matt. 5:20. 


(3) 


Matt. 13:43. 


(4) 


Rev. 21:27, R. V. . 


(5) 


Gilbert, Revelation of Jesus, p. 92 




25 



26 FOLLOWING THE MASTER. 

miration for the one who is righteous. The remark, 
"It is not right," so commonly made, appeals to some- 
thing far down in human consciousness. There is in 
every human heart a desire to be right, even though 
that desire may be buried so deep that none but God 
and the soul know it is there. 

"He may not stay to analyze his feelings, but he 
knows perfectly well that the obligation to do right 
brings with it certain sanctions and penalties which do 
not defer their whole operation to some future period ; 
they set to work at once and compel the sinner to feel 
that the general Tightness of things, the voice of con- 
science, the law of life, the worth of progress, the 
sweet accents of love, the holy will of God, are all 
against him. 

"To be pure and to possess inward peace is the long- 
ing of longings." (i) 

' 'But now abideth faith, hope, love, these three ; 
and the greatest of these is love' ; but the greatest thing 
in the world is righteousness." (2) 

"The first thing which the Gospel — which Christ, 
who is the Gosepl — does when he comes into a man's 
heart is to emphasize two things : the absolute need for 
righteousness in order to friendship with God, and the 
want of it in the heart to which he has come." (3) 



(1) "The Atonement in Modern Religious Thought," pp. 19, 112. 

(2) John G. Woolley. 

(3) Maclaren, Homiletic Review, Vol. 17, p. 133. 



RIGHTEOUSNESS. 27 

The Pharisees agreed with the Master that none but 
the righteous could enter the kingdom of heaven, 
but the point of disagreement and hostility came with 
reference to the nature of righteousness and how it 
was to be obtained. 

Long ago Job asked the profound question: "But 
how can a man be just with God?" (i) The heathen, 
the Mohammedan, the Jew, the Christian — Catholic 
and Protestant — have given their answers to this ques- 
tion, and in their answers may be found- one of the 
great battlefields of human thought. The need of 
righteousness is conceded by all, the problem is, how 
can it be obtained. 

To the Pharisees, righteousness was a matter of 
forms, of externals, which of necessity laid great em- 
phasis upon trifles, such as the tying of a, shoe string on 
the Sabbath, or the eating of an tgg which had been 
laid on the Sabbath. The latter question was debated 
for years by two rival schools of Rabbis. The Master 
taught that righteousness is a matter of the heart, 
which, of necessity, placed the emphasis not upon the 
form of a deed, but upon the motive which prompted 
it. Motives, not trifles, are the vital things in the 
Master's teachings. He asks not only as to the fact 
of a deed or gift, but as to why it was done or given. 
We may hope to find, as we understand him better, a 
reason for this. 



(1) Job 9:2, R. V. 



28 FOLLOWING THE MASTER. 

Because of their conception of righteousness the 
Pharisees observed the following as essentials in the 
religious life: 

i. The washing of pots and kettles. (Matt. 23:25- 
26; Mark 7:4-8; Luke 11:38-41). 

2. The washing of hands. (Matt. 15:2; Mark 

7:2-8.) 

3. Alms-giving. (Matt. 6:1-4.) 

"When Mar Ukbar was dying, he asked for his ac- 
count, that is, for the amount of alms he had given. 
It was found to be seven thousand pieces. He did not 
believe this amount was sufficient for his justification, 
that is, sufficient to outweigh his transgressions, and 
therefore he gave in alms half his remaining fortune 
in order that he might go hence in safety." ( 1 ) 

4. Prayer. (Matt. 6 :$-J ; Luke 18 -.9-14.) 

5. Fasting. (Matt. 6:16-18, 9:14; Mark 2:18; 
Luke 5:33, 18:12.) 

6. Sabbath keeping. (Matt. 12:1-8; Mark 2:23- 
28; Luke 6:1-11, 13:14-17; 14:1-16; John 5:7-18, 9: 
14-16.) 

The Master gives a most scathing indictment of the 
righteousness of the Pharisees in the twenty-third of 
Matthew : "But all their works they do for to be seen 
of men." 

The True Righteousness. 

In making righteousness a result of the condition of 
the heart, the Master was in accord with the common- 

(1) Gilbert, Revelation of Jesus, p. 114. 



RIGHTEOUSNESS. 29 

sense judgment of humanity. We instinctively judge 
the character of others by what we think we know of 
their motives, or the state of their hearts. The child 
who asks of another child, "Do you mean it ?" is seek- 
ing the same kind of knowledge. The law recognizes 
the same principle in judging one accused of crime. 
If the accused has killed a man, the important ques- 
tion is as to the motive which prompted the deed. If it 
can be proven that there was no "malice aforethought," 
a most important point will have been gained. How 
much more then will this principle hold good in our 
Heavenly Father's judgment of us? 

No other absolutely fair method of judgment seems 
possible either betwen man and man or between man 
and God. Judged by the Pharisees' standard, the poor 
widow gave very little indeed compared with the 
sums which the rich poured into the temple treasury; 
judged by the heart standard she gave more than they, 
for she gave her all; judged by his standard, the 
Pharisee's prayer was doubtless superior to that of the 
Publican, while by the Master's standard the Publican 
offered true prayer and was justified, while the Phari- 
see was merely exalting himself. "I tell you that this 
man went down to his house justified rather than the 
other." (i) A cup of water may have little value in 
and of itself, but "Whosoever shall give you a cup of 
water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, 
verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward." (2) 

(1) Luke 18:14. 

(2) Mark 9:41. 



a 



30 FOLLOWING THE MASTER. 

The place where worship is offered is compara- 
tively unimportant, the really important thing is the 
heart of the worshipper, the spirit in which he 
prays, (i) 

"The distinctive element in Jesus' conception of 
righteousness is spirituality — the beatitudes of his 
teaching are nearly all for states of the heart. He 
summarized law and prophets in one word — love. His 
ideal characters were those which are ideal to the 
Father who seeth in secret!' {2) 

The Master recognized that this principle had been 
insisted upon by the Old Testament writers and quoted 
Isaiah in condemnation of the Pharisees. "This peo- 
ple honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far 
from me." 

Mark 7:6, 22, 12:28-34; Matt. 6:4, 6:18; Luke 
16:15; Matt. 5:20, 6:18, 7:1-5, 12:34-37; Mark 9:36- 
40; Matt. 10:41, 42, 25:40. 

See also 1 Samuel 16:7; Ps. 7:10, 24:4, 139:23; Jer. 
17:10, 29:13, 31:33. 

Accepting the Master's teaching that righteousness 
comes from and depends upon the heart, the very im- 
portant question demands answer, "How can heart 
righteousness be obtained ?" The answer to this ques- 
tion is found in The Way of the Cross. 



(1) John 4:20-24. 

(2) Gilbert, Revelation of Jesus, p. 94. 



VI. 

The Way of the Cross. 

The. theological term for the work of Christ in our 
salvation is, the atonement. In a recent symposium on 
this subject, so eminent an authority as Dr. Dods 
makes the following statement : 

"It is remarkable that the death of Christ, on which 
all Christians depend for salvation, and which might 
therefore be expected to be the most intelligible of all 
events, is actually one of the most obscure. But it is 
obscure partly because of its universal significance. 
There are so many different aspects in which it may 
be viewed, and so many various directions in which its 
influence applies itself, that it is impossible to give any 
definition of its significance comprehensive enough to 
include all/' (i) 

It would seem that as the majority of professing 
Christians are neither theologians nor scholars, and 
have neither time nor ability to , study abstruse sub- 
jects, so important a question as how they are to be 
saved through Christ cannot safely be "one of the most 
obscure." The wayfaring man might be disposed to 
leave the subject in the hands of the theologians if 
they had agreed among themselves, but when he knows 



(1) The Atonement in Modern Religions Thought, p. 177. 

31 



32 FOLLOWING THE MASTER. 

of their different theories, none of which seem entirely 
conclusive, it is hard for him to see that he "need not 
err therein." 

The atonement has both a God-ward and a man- 
ward side. We may not expect to know in this life at 
least why it was necessary in the government of God 
for Christ to die on the cross in order that man may be 
pardoned and saved, nor what effect that death had on 
the government of God. Paul evidently teaches that 
there was a necessity and an effect, but the reasons are 
beyond our comprehension. We have not the data 
upon which to reason safely upon so large a theme, and 
it may be questioned whether with our present mental 
and spiritual limitations we are capable of formulating 
an adequate theory. To make this admission is but to 
say, that a father may have reasons for his actions 
beyond the comprehension of his child. 

See Rom. 3:24-26, 4:25; Gal. 1:4; I Cor. 15:3, etc. 

It may be said, however, that the word "atonement" 
is found but once in the New Testament. (Authorized 
Version, Rom. 5:11). This in the Revised Version is 
changed to reconciliation, which conforms to the orig- 
inal Greek. Other terms are used by the New Testa- 
ment writers, such as "redemption" and "propitiation," 
but the word "reconciliation" seems most helpful in 
understanding the effect of Christ's work upon us and 
in us as his disciples. 

"Nevertheless we shall do best if we study what 
Christ accomplished as reconciliation between God and 



THE WAY OF THE CROSS. 33 

men, and on the whole we shall find the name a help 
rather than a hindrance to clear understanding." ( I ) 

The idea of reconciliation is found in the following 
passages: Rom. 5:10-11, R. V., 11:15; H Cor. 5:18- 
20; Eph. 2:16; Col. 1:20-21; Heb. 2:17. 

From these passages we learn that it is not the work 
of Christ to reconcile the Father to us, but to reconcile 
us to the Father. "To the same effect is the entire 
teaching of the prophets and of Christ himself." (2) 

It was the prodigal who needed to be reconciled, the 
father's love was unchanged. This agrees with our 
highest conception of the duty of an earthly father 
toward a wayward son. The moment the son repents 
and comes where the father can forgive him, he is re- 
ceived with open arms. 

If we ask what makes it necessary for man to be 
reconciled to God, the answer is easily found — it is 
sin. Sin separates us from God, because it affects our 
characters, just as two friends are separated by the 
changes in their characters, even should there be no 
word of disagreement. One becomes a drunkard and 
a vagabond, and the other a follower of the Master. 

The problem of sin is perhaps the darkest and most 
terrible that the human mind can contemplate. We 
can see the sins of others, if we cannot or will not see 
our own, and it remains true to-day, as of old, that 



(1) Clark, An Outline of Christian Theology, p. 317. 

(2) Ibid, p. 323. 



34 FOLLOWING THE MASTER. 

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desper- 
ately wicked; who can know it?" (i) 

The Bible invariably represents man as a sinner, ex- 
cepting as he is saved by grace. That this is as true 
to-day as then is abundantly proven. Almost every 
day crimes are committed in some part of the country 
for which we can find no better word than fiendish. 
To these may be added the sins of each community 
which never appear in print, and to these also the sins 
of our own hearts, known only to God and ourselves. 

It will help to a clearer understanding of the nature 
of sin if we remember that we are dual beings, com- 
posed of body and soul, flesh and spirit. In our bodies 
we are akin to the beasts and in our souls we are akin 
to God. These two natures are in conflict and this 
conflict is the crucial point of the battle of life. He 
who wins at this point wins really all along the line. 
If the soul wins we move toward God; if self, or the 
flesh, wins, we move toward the beast. Every re- 
sponsible being is conscious of this struggle, and it is 
only when the soul is thrown by the self that we feel 
guilt and know that we have sinned. 

This conflict is made the greater by the current of 
tendencies which comes from heredity and environment. 
With some these influences are so strong that the soul 
seems helpless, and thus is not responsible. No man 
knows the strength of this current until he has tried 
to stem it. It will be therefore only as we can esti- 

(1) Jer. 17:9. 



THE WAY OF THE CROSS. 35 

mate the power of self in human lives that we can 
estimate the power needed to save men from sin. 

A large part of mankind seem little more than the 
product of their heredity and environment, not only in 
their bodies, but also in their beliefs. The partisan 
is found in all parties, and the bigot in all sects. At 
bottom each and all have the same reason for believ- 
ing that his party or sect is right, and all the others 
wrong. It is his party or sect, and therefore it is 
right. No other reason is wanted. 

Selfishness influences us in three ways : 

1. In our relation to the truth. We are offended at 
the truth and refuse to believe it because it touches 
self. We thus often believe or disbelieve for reasons 
purely selfish, and which have nothing to do with the 
facts in the case. (John 8 140-45 ; Gal. 4 :i6 ; Rom. 1 :i8 
R. V.; II Cor. 4:3-4.) 

2. Our judgment of others is distorted by self- 
ishness. (Matt. 7:1-5; Luke 6:37; Rom. 2:1.) 

3. Selfishness influences our beliefs about God and 
our relations toward Him. (Rom. 8 :y, 1 Cor. 2 :i4.) 

"Sin is essentially egoism or selfism. It is self- 
sufficiency, the opposite of Christian faith. It is self- 
will, the opposite of Christian submission, putting the 
will of self instead of the will of God as the supreme 
law and the supreme providence of the world. It is 
self-seeking, the opposite of Christian benevolence. It 
is self-righteousness, the opposite of Christian humility 
and reverence. The gospel which is to save man from 



36 FOLLOWING THE MASTER. 

sin must break down this spiritual primacy of self. It 
must require self-renunciation." ( I ) 

"Were we not selfish, legislative restraint would be 
unnecessary/' (2) 

"Sin may be viewed with reference to its motive and 
inner moral quality. Then sin is the placing of self- 
will or selfishness above the claims of love and duty. 
* * * In this light we see how true it is that sin 
consists at heart in selfishness." (3) 

"Always there is a black spot in our sunshine — - 
it is the shadow of ourselves." — Carlyle. 

"For I have no man like-minded, who will care truly 
for your state. For they all seek their own, not the 
things of Jesus Christ." (4) 

"Is it therefore infallibly agreeable to the word of 
God all that you say ? I beseech you, in the bowels of 
Christ, think it possible that you may be mis- 
taken." (5) 

See Matt. 5:20; Rom. 5:12; Jas. 1:14-15; Rom. 7:5, 
18, 24 ; Rom. 8 19 ; Gal. 5 116-25 ; Eph. 2 13 ; Gal. 3 13, etc. 



(1) Harris, Bibliotheca Sacra, Vol. 18, pp. 148, 149. 

(2) Herbert Spencer, Social Statics, p. 243. 

(3) Clark, An Ontline of Christian Theology, pp. 235, 236. 

(4) Phil. 2:20, 21, R. V. 

(5) Cromwell's Letters and Speeches, Vol. 2, p. 177. 



VII. 
The Way of the Cross — {Continued). 

It is but reasonable to expect that whatever plan of 
salvation the Heavenly Father has provided through 
the Savior, it is a plan perfectly adapted to man's 
needs. If man's lost condition is because of sin, then 
if he is to be saved he must be saved from sin. "Thou 
shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people 
from their sins." (i) If sin is at heart selfishness, 
then salvation must save man from himself, influence 
his character and make him less selfish. This would 
seem absolutely essential, for no man can see truth 
aright or God aright excepting as the beam .of self- 
ishness is cast out of his eyes. (2) It is evidently a 
most dangerous fiction, whether theological or other- 
wise, that a man is in any sense of the word saved, 
who is not in some sense made less selfish. It is re- 
pudiated by the common sense of mankind and by the 
teachings of the Master. "Wherefore by their fruits 
ye shall know them." (3) Salvation then to be com- 
plete is a process which must reach the utmost depths 
of human hearts and be as great as human needs. The 



(1) Matt. 1:21. 

(2) Matt. 5:8. 

(3) Matt. 7:20. 

37 



38 FOLLOWING THE MASTER. 

Christian life is something not only to be believed in 
by the head, but to be lived out in the heart. 

The Master laid the emphasis of his teaching and 
commands, not upon his death, where so many have 
placed it, but upon his life. "Whosoever doth not bear 
his own cross, and come after me, cannot be my dis- 
ciple." (i) Here the emphatic statement is made that 
the cross — one's own cross — is the fundamental prin- 
ciple in the Christian life, for one cannot be a Chris- 
tian without it. So much does this mean, the Master 
suggests that each one weigh well the cost before he 
starts to build a tower of Christian character and see if 
he is willing to pay the cost; to consider well the na-' 
ture of the conflict before declaring war. (2) With- 
out this fundamental principle of their own cross in 
their lives professing Christians are like salt that has 
lost its savor, and must therefore be cast out. (3) 

If we ask what the cross means as applied to the 
individual Christian — his own cross — we may learn 
from other passages. 

"Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man 
would come after me, let him deny himself, and take 
up his cross, and follow me." (4) 

"If any man would come after me, let him deny 
himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." (5) 



(1) 


Luke 14:27, R. V. 


(2) 


Luke 14:28-32. 


(3) 


Luke 14:34, 35. 


(4) 


Matt. 16:24, R. V. 


(5) 


Mk. 8:34, R. V. 



THE WAY OF THE CROSS. 39 

"And he said unto all, If any man would come after 
me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, 
and follow me." (i) 

"So therefore whosoever he be of you that re- 
nounceth not all that he hath, he cannot be my dis- 
ciple." (2) 

Evidently to "come after me" and to 'follow me" 
mean the same; and "deny himself" and "take up his 
cross" mean the same. We thus learn that the cross — 
one's own cross — is the principle of self-denial as the 
Savior knew it and lived it. It may not be too much 
to expect then that every requirement of the Christian 
life will be found in accord with this principle, and its 
necessity in the putting of the principle into practice. 

The Master was the perfect example and illustra- 
tion of this principle in his own life. He bore his own 
cross and lived the perfect Christian life for our en- 
couragement and example. 

"Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ 
Jesus : who, being in the form of God, counted it not 
a prize to be on an equality with God, but emptied 
himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in 
the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a 
man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto 
death yea, the death of the cross." (3) 



(1) Luke 9:23, R. V. 

(2) Luke 14:33, R. V. 

(3) Phil. 2:5-8, R. V. 



40 FOLLOWING THE MASTER. 

"For Christ also pleased not himself; but as it is 
written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee 
fell upon me. ( i ) 

"The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have 
nests ; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his 
head." (2) 

"My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and 
to accomplish his work." (3) 

"I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I 
judge; and my judgment is just: because" I seek not 
mine own will, but the will of him that sent me." (4) 

"To this end was I born, and for this cause came 
I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the 
truth." (5) 

The Master's judgment of truth was just, because 
he was not influenced by selfishness — "I seek not mine 
own will." Seeing the truth so clearly, he bore witness 
to it even at the cost of life. "But now ye seek to kill 
me, a man that has told you the truth, which I have 
heard of God." (6) 

It was because the Master carried out in his life so 
perfectly the principle of self-denial — drank his cup 
(7) ; bore his yoke (8) ; that he said to his disciples, 



(1) 


Rom. 15:3, R. V. 


(2) 


Matt. 8:20. 


(3) 


John 4:34, R. V. 


(4) 


John 5:30. 


(5) 


John 18:37. 


(6) 


John 8:40. 


(7) 


Mark 10:37-39. 


(8) 


Matt. 11:29, 30. 



THE WAY OF THE CROSS. 41 

''Follow me." "I have set you an example." It was 
in obedience to this command that they "left all and 
followed him." It was in accord with the same prin- 
ciple that the man who finds a treasure hid in a field 
"selleth all that he hath and buyeth that field;" also 
of the merchant who found a pearl of great price and 
"sold all he had and bought it." ( I ) 

See Matt. 4:19-20; Mark 1:20, 10:28-29; Luke 
18:28-29; Matt. 19:29. 

It was because of this principle that so many refused 
to follow him ; they were not willing to leave all. (2) 

Paul saw clearly that it was this requirement of the 
Christian life to which many objected. It was the "of- 
fense of the cross." (3) 

The writer of the Hebrews refers to the same prin- 
ciple when he speaks of "the reproach of the Christ." 
(4) The Master saw that the cross would always be 
an objection to the Christian life on the part of many. 
"Blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in 
me." (5) 

See Matt. 5:29-30, 13:21, 18:8-9, 24:10, 26:31-33, 
10:22, 37-39, 16:24-25; Mark 9:43-48, 14:27-29; John 
6:61-66, 16:1; Luke 17:33, 18:17-30; Gal. 5:24, 6:12- 
14, 2:20; Eph. 2:16; Phil. 3:18; Heb, 12:2. 

(1) Matt. 13:44-46. 

(2) Mark 10:17-31; Matt. 8:21, 22. See Wendt, Teaching of 

Jesus, Vol. 2, p. 70, note. 

(3) Gal. 5:11; I Cor. 1:18, 23-31. 

(4) Heb. 11:26; 13:13. 

(5) Matt. 11:6; Luke 7:23. 



42 FOLLOWING THE MASTER. 

"The cross, the cross, this is the badge and standard 
of our religion. I honor all who bear it. I look with 
scorn on the selfish greatness of this world, and with 
pity on the most gifted and prosperous in the struggle 
for office and power ; but I look with reverence on the 
obscurest man who suffers for the right, who is true 
to a good but persecuted cause." ( i ) 

"In action and in suffering, in work and in lot, the 
motto of sonship is, 'God's will be done.' Its chief 
end is the divine glory; that secured, it- is content to fill 
a little space or to bear a heavy cross. To be a son 
of God to this effect is not easy. It is possible only 
through a deadly struggle with, and victory over, 
self." (2) 

"The disciple of Jesus must be ready when cir- 
cumstances call for it, to surrender his greatest and 
dearest treasure, to sever himself from his nearest rela- 
tives, to resign all earthly possessions, and, finally, even 
to sacrifice his earthly life in the most painful way, in 
order rightly to fulfill his duty in the kingdom of 
God." 

"Frequently and emphatically Jesus declared that 
hatred and persecution would be the fate of his dis- 
ciples in the future upon earth. As he regarded his own 
sufferings and death as the manifestation of the rule 
which holds universally in the Kingdom of God, that 
men must take up the cross and stake their lives for 



(1) Channing's Works, p. 750. 

(2) Bruce, Kingdom of God, p. 213. 



THE WAY OF THE CROSS. 43 

the sake of the gospel (Mark 8:34) ; so, on the other 
hand, in the experience which he himself had of the 
deadly hostility of men toward his preaching of the 
kingdom of God, he found the sure basis for infer- 
ring analogous experiences which his disciples would 
have on account of the kingdom of God." ( 1 ) 

"Christ saved the world not by theology but by a 
life. It is not, however, untheologicaj ; nothing in 
theology has a sounder basis than that Christ saved 
the world by himself becoming a redeemer; that is, 
by passing through those moral processes that in them- 
selves constitute salvation. It follows as day the night 
that the process must be the same for every man." 

"Each has his cross — bearing which he follows the 
Master and so gains salvation, because it is in itself 
a saving process/' (2) 

"Both in gospel and epistle and with endless rich- 
ness of appeal, men are called to be what Jesus was 
and to do what he did. All the great things attributed 
to him are expected and demanded of his fol- 
lowers." (3) 

The Apostle Paul knew well this truth when he 
spoke of the goal of the Christian life as the "high call- 
ing of God in Christ Jesus." (4) The disciples asked 
of the Master in astonishment, "Who then can be 



(1) Matt. 10:24; f. Wendt, Teaching of Jesus, Vol. 2, pp. 65, 356. 

(2) The Atonement in Modern Religious Thought, pp. 366, 368. 

(3) Ibid, p. 325. 

(4) Phil. 3:14, R. V. 



44 FOLLOWING THE MASTER. 

saved?" (i) "Are there few that be saved?" (2) 
Paul asked, "Who is sufficient for these things?" (3) 
"O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me 
out of the body of this death?" And answers his 
question, "I thank God through Jesus Christ our 
Lord." (4) 



(1) Luke 18:26. 

(2) Luke 13:23. 

(3) 2 Cor. 2:16. 

(4) Rom. 7:24, 25, R. V. 



VIII. 
Salvation. 

It may help to a clearer understanding of the teach- 
ings of the Master and our relations to him if we 
review briefly what we have already learned, and with 
these as a basis reason as to what we may expect to 
learn. If we have found the fundamental principle of 
the' Master's teaching we may expect to find that his 
commands will be in accord with that principle. We 
ought then to be able to find that the Christian life is 
intensely practical; that the Master who loves us 
would not demand that we leave all if there were not 
an absolute necessity both because of the difficulties to 
be overcome and the goal to be reached. 

We have learned in part at least what it meant to be 
one of the first disciples and something of the methods 
of the Supreme Teacher. We have learned to call God 
our Father and have become members of the Kingdom 
of God, now in progress here on the earth and to have 
a glorious consummation in the world to come; we 
have learned that none but the righteous can enter that 
kingdom beyond; that righteousness is of the heart 
and that the way to righteousness is by the cross — 
one's own cross. We do not know what effect the 
Lord's death on the cross had upon the government 
of God so that it is possible to forgive us, but we do 

45 



46 FOLLOWING THE MASTER. 

know that when the prodigal repents and returns to 
the Father, he is forgiven. We have learned that the 
Master's emphasis is upon his life rather than his death, 
and that the cross applies to our daily lives. If we do 
not bear our own cross, leave all and follow the Master, 
we cannot be his disciples. 

This is evidently a different conception from that 
held by many even professing Christians. They are 
willing to have their names upon the church roll, to 
give a little of their abundance to the support of the 
gospel, to attend church at least once a Sabbath if it is 
not too hot, too cold, or does not look too much like 
rain; they are willing to listen if the sermon is suffi- 
ciently interesting and does not come too close home to 
their sins. They are willing to be respectable, to avoid 
outbreaking sins, especially such as they fear may be- 
come known and affect their standing in society, but to 
permit their religion to interfere with their business, 
their political party, or even their Sunday dinner is 
far from their thoughts. 

Yet the Master sai3 : 'Whosoever doth not bear his 
own cross and come after me cannot be my dis- 
ciple." (i) "Whosover he be of you that forsaketh 
not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple." (2) 
"And he said unto them, Strive to enter into the 
straight gate, for many I say unto you, will seek to 
enter in, and shall not be able." (3) 

(1) Luke 14:27, R. V. 

(2) Luke 14:33. 

(3) Luke 13:24. 



SALVATION. 47 

There are three classes of passages in the New Tes- 
tament on the subject of salvation: 

i. Those that speak of salvation as an accomplished 
fact. 

"For by hope were we saved." (Rom. 8:24, R. V.) 

"By grace have ye been saved." (Eph. 2 15, R. V.) 

"By grace ye have been saved through faith." (Eph. 
2:8, R. V.) 

"Who hath saved us and called us with a holy call- 
ing." (2 Tim. 1 18-9.) 

"According to his mercy he saved us." (Tit. 3:5). 

2. Those that speak of salvation as now in progress : 
"And the Lord added to them day by day those that 

were being saved." (Acts 2:47, R. V.) 

"For the word of the cross is to them that are per- 
ishing foolishness ; but unto us which are being saved it 
is the power of God." (1 Cor. 1 :i8., R. V.) 

"For we are a sweet savor of Christ unto God in 
them that are being saved." (2 Cor. 2 115, R. V.), etc. 

3. Those that speak of salvation as something to be 
accomplished in the future. 

"Shall we be saved from the wrath of God through 
him." (Rom. 5:9, R. V.) 

"For God hath not appointed us to wrath but to ob- 
tain salvation through our Lord Jesus." (1 Thess. 5 :g.) 

"He that endures to the end shall be saved." (Matt. 
10:22.) 

"For now is our salvation nearer than when we be- 
lieved." (Rom. 13:11.) 



48 FOLLOWING THE MASTER. 

We shall be best able to understand these passages 
as parts of a consistent whole if we learn from them 
that salvation, to the true follower of the Master, is a 
process now in operation to be complete in the future, 
(i) As sin alienates us from God and destroys our 
moral nature, salvation must save us from sin. 
"Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save 
his people from their sins." (2) But sin results 
when the soul consciously surrenders to self, the flesh 
to the spirit; salvation then may be conceived as re- 
sulting when the soul is enabled to conquer self, and 
the spirit conquers over the flesh. Certainly when the 
follower of Christ is enabled to gain the victory over 
sin he is to that degree saved. On the other hand no 
one who has not the victory over sin can be truly in the 
way of salvation. Either the plan of salvation is not 
sufficient for his case or he is not willing to be saved in 
accordance with the plan. Certainly every time he 
sins he is made more selfish and is not in that particular 
saved. 

We now turn our attention to some of the steps by 
which the process of salvation is worked out in our 
lives. If we find that these steps are in harmony with 
and possibly because of, the way of the cross, we shall 
then understand better what a glorious gospel has been 
committed to our trust. 



(1) See Bibliotheca Sacra, Vol. 56, p. 701. 

(2) Matt. 1:21. 



IX. 
Repentance, Confession, Forgiveness. 

The first step in the way of salvation is repentance. 
This is an absolute necessity. The prodigal in going 
into the far country wandered from the Father's house. 
When he "came to himself," realized his condition, his 
thoughts turned to home. 

"Hence we conclude that Jesus thought of repentance 
as based upon a clear seeing, by the sinner, of his own 
condition." (i) It was only when he said, "I will 
arise and go to my Father and say, 'Father, I have 
sinned'," and actually started for home that he can be 
said truly to have repented. True repentance there- 
fore includes not only sorrow for sin, but a turning 
from sin. This is the first step in the way of the cross, 
and how really it is the conquering of the flesh, the vic- 
tory of the soul over the self, only those know who 
have truly repented. 

The necessity of repentance was preached by the 
Master, (Mk. 1:15, 2:17: Matt. 4:17; Luke 5:32, 
13:3-5, 15:7, 10; by his disciples, Mark 6:12; Luke 
24:47; Acts 3:19, 17:30, 20:21, 26:20). 

See also Matt. 11:20-24, 12 141-42 ; Rom. 2:4; Matt. 
3:8, R. V.; 2 Peter 3:9, R. V.; Rev. 2:16, 21, 3:19. 



(1) Gilbert, Revelation of Jesus, p. 67. 

49 



50 FOLLOWING THE MASTER. 

The Master's command to repent assumes that men 
have the power to obey the command. The ChrisFian 
soon learns that repentance is not only the first step 
towards God, but whenever he wanders from the "nar- 
row way/' in order to return he must repent. "The 
ability to make a lifelong repentance is the surest sign 
that a man is in the way of salvation." 

"Repentance is the turning away from a life of sin, 
the breaking off from evil, because of a change of 
mind in which a new and better standard^ of life has 
been accepted. The Christian life is not only entered 
by repentance, but is characterized by repentance 
through its whole extent." ( i ) 

"There surely is not the emphasis laid upon repent- 
ance in modern preaching, that there is in the Bible." 

(2) 

"It (repentance) is a phenomenon of will, and 
consists in the turning or change of the ultimate inten- 
tion from selfishness to benevolence — from a state of 
consecration to self to a state of consecration to God, is 
and must be the turning, the change of mind, or the re- 
pentance that is required of all sinners. Nothing less 
can constitute a virtuous repentance, and nothing more 
can be required." (3) 

"Repentance, which is solely the free choice of the 
individual." (4) 



(1) Clark, An Outline of Christian Theology, pp. 403, 402. 

(2) Torrey, What the Bible Teaches, p. 353. 

(3) Finney, Systematic Theology, p. 365. 

(4) Bradford, Age of Faith, p. 198. 



REPENTANCE, CONFESSION, FORGIVENESS. 51 

When the prodigal had left the far country and found 
the father watching for his return, the next step was to 
confess his sins. "Father, I have sinned, and am no 
more worthy to be called thy son." This is also in the 
way of the cross. Many people who admit in their 
own hearts they are sinners, are yet too proud to 
confess their sins, even becoming angry if remind- 
ed of them. It is a most singular and unreason- 
able trait of human nature that leads one to become 
angry at what he knows is truth, and because it is 
truth. The Master understood this when he said to 
his brothers: "But me it hateth, because I testify of 
it, that the works thereof are evil." (John J'.J.) 

If we remember how difficult it is for many to admit 
that they have made a mistake in judgment, even when 
there is no sin, it will help us to see why they refuse 
to bear their cross and confess their sins. And this, 
too, when the one to whom the confession should be 
made knows well that they have sinned. 

As sin is either against our fellow men or against 
God, so confession of sin is either to our fellow men 
or to God. It may be said that sin against our fellow 
men is also against God. We should make confession 
to those we have wronged. (Matt. 5:23-24; Luke 
19 :8~9 ; James 5 :i6.) We should also confess our sins 
to God. (Luke 15:21, 18:13; John 1:9; Matt. 3:6; 
Mark 1:5.) Sometimes a sinner is willing to confess 
his sins to God, but is not willing to confess to those 
he has wronged, which indicates that his pride is not 



52 FOLLOWING THE MASTER. 

yet humbled, that he has not yet "left all." When the 
prodigal had confessed his sins he was immediately for- 
given, if indeed he was not forgiven the moment the 
father saw he had truly repented. "His father saw 
him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck 
and kissed him." (Luke 15:20.) "Penitence is as sure 
of pardon, as sin is sure of punishment. God delights 
to forgive ; He needs no urging to it." ( 1 ) 

There is one condition upon which our Heavenly 
Father forgives us that is sometimes overlooked, and 
that is that we have forgiven others. Those who were 
in Central Music Hall, Chicago, during the noonday 
meetings at the time of the Columbian Exposition, will 
remember Mr. Moody's preaching one day upon the 
subject of forgiveness. When he came to the point that 
we must forgive others before we can be forgiven, a 
number of people arose and left the hall. The speaker 
paused until quiet was restored, and remarked that he 
had never preached to professing Christians upon that 
point that a number did not immediately go out. Ap- 
parently there were some people whom they were un- 
willing to forgive. 

The Master's teaching upon this point is very clear : 
"Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.** For 
if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly 
Father will also forgive you. But if ye forgive not 
men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father 
forgive your trespasses." (Matt. 6:12, 14-15). 



(1) Atonement in Modern Religions Thought, p. 260. 



REPENTANCE, CONFESSION, FORGIVENESS. 53 

There are few ways in which the influence of self 
is shown more powerfully than in our feelings toward 
those who have hurt our pride or injured us in busi- 
ness or in some way touched self. Every Christian 
worker has known those who were willing to "carry 
the cross" in almost every particular but that of for- 
giving others. But because this desire for revenge or 
the bearing of a grudge is a manifestation of selfishness, 
it must be conquered or there is no progress in the way 
of salvation and of course no* forgiveness of our own 
sins. See Matt. 18 121-35 ; Mark 1 1 -.25-26 ; Luke 1 1 4, 
17:3-4,23:34; Acts 7:60, 8:22; Rom. 4:7; James 5:15; 
1 John 1 :9, 2 : 12 ; Eph. 4 :32. 



X. 

The New Life. 

With the realization that his sins are forgiven, the 
follower of the Master enters upon a new life. He has 
his first taste of "the water of life" ; he knows for the 
first time what "the joy of the Lord" and "the peace of 
God that passeth all understanding," mean. He is in 
touch with a new world, the spiritual world, and en- 
ters upon a new life, the life of the spirit. The former 
life was self-centered, the new life is centered in Christ 
as Teacher, Captain, Saviour. This entrance upon the 
new life is called in theology conversion, which refers 
more particularly to man's part in it, also regeneration, 
which refers more particularly to God's part. In that 
wonderful conversation of the Master with Nicodemus 
this entrance upon the new life is called a new birth. 
"Except a man be born again, he cannot see the king- 
dom of God." (John 3:3.) The marginal reading of 
"born again," or "born anew" as in the Revised Ver- 
sion, is "born from above." The "20th Century New 
Testament" translates it, "Born over again." It is also 
called a "creation," 2 Cor. 5 \iy, a "resurrection," Eph, 
2:1, and a "begetting" by God, 1 Pet. 1 123 ; 1 John 4:7. 
This entrance upon the new life is an experience which 
is understood only by those who have passed through 

it. As well try to make a blind mind see color as an 

55 



56 FOLLOWING THE MASTER. 

unconverted man understand "the joy of the Lord."' 
This may be said of all the experiences of the Christian 
life. 

If any demand the philosophy of this blessed en- 
trance upon a new life, it must be said that no adequate 
explanation can be given. The event takes place in 
the depths of the soul where the spirit of man is quick- 
ened by the Spirit of God. What we see and feel is 
perhaps more the effects of the change than the 
change itself. 

The mistake is. made many times of expecting that 
all will have the same experience in entering upon the 
new life. This is without warrant in either Scripture 
or Christian experience. With some the change is so 
gradual as to be almost imperceptible, and they cannot 
with certainty point to the time when they were con- 
verted. This is especially true of those who were con- 
verted in childhood. With others there is a sudden 
and wonderful change, apparently, in a moment. Some 
have wonderful experiences, and cannot refrain from 
shouting and praising God, while with others there is a 
deep peace of soul flowing as silently as an under- 
ground river. Just as no two persons have the same 
nature, so God's dealings with them must be perfectly 
adapted to each, and no two have exactly the same ex- 
perience. The writer knew a man converted, as it 
afterward seemed, as he knelt with his pastor and the 
evangelist in the pastor's study in the forenoon. His 
conviction of sin was gone. About 2 oclock the next 



THE NEW LIFE. 57 

morning he was wakened from sleep by a new and 
wonderful feeling of happiness. He could do nothing 
but weep. His wife heard him and was alarmed, for 
he was a large, strong man, who seldom shed a tear. 
"What can be the matter?" she exclaimed. "I am so 
happy that I cannot live," was his reply. He was a 
new man in Christ Jesus from that time on, and like 
Paul gloried in the cross of Christ. 

It may be said that the moment self is conquered by 
the soul and all is surrendered, the spirit of man is 
touched by the spirit of God, and receives new life and 
power. "Ye shall seek me and find me when ye shall 
search for me with all your heart." (i) The par- 
ticular experience by which we come to Christ will 
probably be adapted to each, but there will be the same 
new element in the life of all — love, love for Christ, 
love for the Father, love for one another. "We know 
that we have passed out of death into life because we 
love the brethren." (2) 

See 2 Cor. 5 :iy ; Gal. 6:15; Eph. 2 : 1-4-5, R- V. ; Jas. 
1:18; 1 Cor. 4:15; Titus 3:5; John 3:1-12, 6:47, 5:23- 
24, 40, 43, 44, 9:35-38, 12:44, 7:37-38, 6:51-58. 

"Hence regeneration may be defined as that work of 
the Holy Spirit in a man by which a new life of holy 
love, like the life of God, is initiated." (3) 

"Regeneration, to have the characteristics ascribed 
to it in the Bible, must consist in a change in the atti- 

(1) Jer. 29:13. 

(2) 1 Jno. 3:14, R.V. 

(3) Clark, An Outline of Christian Theology, p. 396. 



58 FOLLOWING THE MASTER. 

tude of the will, or a change in its ultimate choice, in- 
tention, or preference; a change from selfishness to 
benevolence ; from choosing self-gratification as the su- 
preme and ultimate end of life, to the supreme and 
ultimate choice of the highest well-being of God and 
of the universe ; from a state of entire consecration to 
self-interest, self-indulgence, self-gratification for its 
own sake or as an end, and as the supreme end of life, 
to a state of entire consecration to God, and to the in- 
terests of his kingdom as the supreme and ultimate 
end of life." (i) 

''Thus we are now in a position to see that in con- 
version the element which is most fundamental from 
the standpoint of priority is the awakening of self-con- 
sciousness, while the essential factor from the stand- 
point of development is the process of unselfing."(2) 

"The New Birth is a most desirable and glorious ex- 
perience. Just to think that the All Holy God comes 
to men sunken in sin, dead through trespasses and 
sins, the vilest of sinners, blind, corrupt, perverse, and 
imparts to them his own wise, holy and glorious na- 
ture. The doctrine of the New Birth is one of the 
most precious and inspiring in the word of God. 

"While the regenerated man is not in the flesh, he 
still has the flesh". (Gal. 5:16-17.) The new nature 
received in regeneration does not expel, destroy, or 
eradicate the old nature. The two exist side by side. 



(1) Finney, Systematic Theology, p. 287. 

(2) Starbuck, Psychology of Religion, p. 130. 



THE NEW LIFE. 59 

The old nature is present, but its deeds are to be put 
to death through the Spirit. (Rom. 8:13.) The flesh 
is present, but we are not under its dominion." (1) 



(1) Torrey, What the Bible Teaches, pp. 327, 328. 



XL 

Faith and Works. 

The moment the prodigal turned from the far coun- 
try and started for his father's house he exercised faith, 
and each step of the return was an act of faith. He 
may have been uncertain what reception the father 
would give, but he would at least put him to the test, 
return and confess his sin. The life of the Christian 
is a life of faith. Paul says, "Whatsoever is not of 
faith is sin," (i) and the writer of Hebrews, "But 
without faith it is impossible to please him." (2) 
The same writer gives what is still the best defi- 
nition of faith. "Now faith is the assurance of things 
hoped for, the proving of things not seen." (3) "But 
faith is not mere intellectual assent; it is not mere 
belief on evidence, or on testimony. It is not even the 
intellectual acceptance as true of what God has said. 
Faith is not faith without the element of personal 
confidence, self-commitment, trust." (4) 

"Perhaps the simplest answer that can be given to 
the question: 'What is faith?' is that it is trust." (5) 

<r By it (faith) I understand willingness to follow 



(1) Rom. 14:23. 

(2) Heb. 11:6. 

(3) Heb. 11:1, R. V. 

(4) Clark, An Outline of Christian Theology, p 403. 

(5) Stevens, Doctrine and Life, p. 191. 

61 



62 FOLLOWING THE MASTER. 

the intuitions, the spontaneous convictions, the af- 
firmations of the heart, always with good reason, but 
without waiting for the intellect to be convinced." ( i ) 

It will help us to understand the nature of faith 
and the necessity for it in the Christian life, if we can 
find that it is in accord with the fundamental prin- 
ciple of that life, the way of the cross. 

In that mysterious union of flesh and spirit, self and 
soul, which' makes up the human personality, the 
flesh knows nothing of spiritual things. "But the nat- 
ural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of 
God : for they are foolishness unto him ; neither can he 
know them, because they are spiritually discerned." 
(2) The selfish man does not care to hear about spir- 
itual things ; they are not only foolishness to him, but 
he hates them, for they remind him of his sins. "Be- 
cause the mind of the flesh is enmity against God ; for 
it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can 
be." (3) The spirit, however, being spirit, knows of 
spiritual things, and is in touch with spiritual 
things. It is only when the spirit, by the quick- 
ening, strengthening power of the Spirit of God 
assumes control of the personality, steps out upon 
God's promise, thus exercising personal trust in spite 
of the flesh, that one can be said to have faith. Each 
and every act of real faith then is a conquering of the 
flesh, and is thus in the way of the cross. 

(1) Bradford, The Age of Faith, p. 2. 

(2) I Cor. 2:14. 

(3) Rom. 8:7, R. V. 



FAITH AND WORKS. 63 

"Faith is the undoubted medium of spiritual 
gifts." (I) 

"Yet I could never say that on such occasions I was 
entirely without fear. Nay, I have felt my reason 
reeling, my sight coming and going, and my knees 
smiting together when thus brought close to a violent 
death, but mostly under the solemn thought of being 
ushered into eternity and appearing before God. Still, 

1 was never left without hearing that promise in all its 
consoling and supporting power coming up through the 
darkness and the anguish, "Lo, I am with you al- 
way." (2) 

See Matt. 8:10, 9:2, 22, 29, 15:28, 17:20, 21:21; 
Mark 4:40, 5:34, 10:52, 11:22; Luke 8:25, 48, 17:5, 
6, 19, 18 :8, 42, 22 '.32 ; Rom. 10 :io ; 1 Cor. 1:21; Rom. 
1:17, 3:22, 28, 4:9, 20, 5:1; Gal. 3:7; 1 Tim. 6:11; 

2 Tim. 4:7; Gal. 6:10; 2 Cor. 5:7; Eph. 4:5; 1 Thess. 
1 :8; Gal. 3 :6; Heb. 11, etc. 

The demonstration that faith is real is the power to 
do. When the soul conquers self and in spite of self 
really trusts God, the answer comes in strength from 
God to do one's duty. "That he would grant you, ac- 
cording to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened 
with might by his Spirit in the inner man." (3) "I 
can do all things through Christ which strengthened 
me." (4) When one has done the duty of the day, in 



(1) Gould, Biblical Theology of N. T., p. 16. 

(2) Paton's Autobiography, Vol. 1, p. 336. 

(3) Eph. 3:16. 
4) Phil. 4:13. 



64 FOLLOWING THE MASTER. 

the spirit of the Master, evidently one must be ac- 
cepted as righteous for that day at least. In this way 
truth is learned, progress is made, character is devel- 
oped, and the soul for that day at least is saved. Boast- 
ing is excluded from such a life, for the strength by 
which the duty is done is not our own, but of God. 
The deeper the experiences of such a life the more the 
Christian learns, "Without me ye can do nothing." (i) 
This would seem to be what is meant by the righteous- 
ness of faith. "The just shall live by faith, " or, as the 
"20th Century New Testament" gives it, "Those who 
stand right with God will find Life as the result of 
faith." (2) 

The Master laid great emphasis upon the necessity 
of doing. "Not every one that saith unto me Lord, 
Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he that 
that doeth the will of my Father which is 
in heaven." From this verse to the 28th the lesson is 
of doing right. The false prophets professed to be 
Christians, but did iniquity. The house upon the rock 
showed the character of the man who heard and did ; 
the house upon the sand the character of the man who 
heard and did not. (3) 

"If any man willeth to do his will, he shall know of 
the teaching, whether it be of God, or whether I speak 
from myself." (4) Only the man who does or is willing 



(1) John 15:5. 

(2) Rom. 1:17. 

(3) Matt. 7:21-28. 

(4) John 7:17, R. V. 



FAITH AND WORKS. 65 

to do the will of God can learn spiritual truth. 

"And why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the 
things that I say ?" ( I ) 

"For I have given you an example that ye should do 
as I have done to you." "If ye know these things, 
happy are ye if ye do them." (2) 

See also John 14:23-24, 15:14; James, 1:22, 2:14- 
26 ; 1 John 3 7. 

"We have said that, in the thought of Jesus, to re- 
ceive the kingdom of heaven means to hear and do 
his word. He lays stress on this practical aspect of the 
subject (Matt. 7:21-24). He alone believes the word of 
Jesus who actually does it. * '* * It is plain that 
this view of faith which Jesus had is entirely practical 
and intelligible." (3) 

"That is, the reason of the man's reception into the 
favor of God, is not what Christ has done for him 
ab extra, but what he has done within him in restoring 
him to a new life of righteousness." (4) 

If we inquire as to the standard to which we must 
measure in the day of judgment we find that it wilt 
be according to our works. In that wonderful chap- 
ter, the 25th of Matthew, we learn that the foolish 
virgins who were refused admission to the bride- 
groom's house, had simply neglected to provide oil 



(1) Luke 6.46. 

(2) John 13:15, 17. 

(3) Gilbert, Revelation of Jesus, pp. 73, 74. 

(4) Gould, Biblical Theology of New Testament, p. 69. 



66 FOLLOWING THE MASTER. 

for their lamps ; that the unprofitable servant who was 
cast into outer darkness neglected to use his talent, 
and that those on the left of the throne of glory were 
banished from the presence of the Lord because they 
had simply neglected little acts of charity and love 
and that was enough to close the gates of heaven, for 
it showed that at heart they were selfish and had not 
followed the Master in the way of the cross. 

In this light salvation is righteous character, and 
the righteousness of faith is the righteousness of duty 
done in the power of God through faith in Christ. 
Thus, as some one has said, "We are saved by grace, 
but we are judged by works." 

The absolute need of doing or being willing to do 
the will of God before we can develop a Christ-like 
character, is in line with our judgment of each other. 
No man is a hero in our eyes by profession only. He 
must do heroic deeds or at least prove himself willing 
to do them. We "take the will for the deed," only 
when willingness has been demonstrated. As the far- 
mer cannot learn to plow without plowing, however 
complete his knowledge of the theory of plowing, so 
no one can develop in Christian character without 
doing, or at least being willing to do, the will of God. 
This also is in the way of the cross. There is no 
lack of promise and profession in our lives, the great 
need is to do as well as we know. "The spirit in- 
deed is willing, but the flesh is weak." ( I ) 

(1) Matt. 26:41. 



FAITH AND WORKS. 67 

"One of the things lacking to the faith of the Thes- 
salonians was the proof of faith in purity of life. Their 
faith was imperfect in so far as their lives were un- 
sanctified. * * * It is to be noticed that faith did 
not survive, after a good conscience was thrust away." 

(i) 

See Matt. 12:36; Rom. 2:5-11-16, 14:10-12; 2 Cor. 
5:10; Rev. 20:12-13; Phil. 3:12-13. 



(1) Gilbert, First Interpreters of Jesus, p. 115. 



XII. 
Love. 

As has been said, while possibly no two persons have 
exactly the same experience in entering upon the new 
life, yet there is an experience common to all ; that is, 
love to God and man both new and wonderful. This 
is but the natural and necessary result of the life of 
the spirit. As the Spirit of God quickens our spirits 
we enter upon a life of which love is one of the chief 
manifestations. This is the new commandment of the 
Master which some one has called the eleventh com- 
mandment. "A new commandment give I unto you, 
that ye love one another ; even as I have loved you, that 
ye also love one another. By this shall all men know 
that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.' ' 
(i) Love, then, is the distinctive badge of the Chris- 
tian by which all men shall know that we belong to 
Christ. It will be found that almost without excep- 
tion unbelievers know well the real Christian from the 
mere professor and that the standard of their judgment 
is whether our lives are ruled by selfishness or love. 
It was said by the heathen of the early Christians, 
u How these Christians love one another." 

When it is remembered what is required of every 
true follower of the Master, that self must be sur- 

(1) John 13:34, 35, R. V. 

69 



70 FOLLOWING THE MASTER. 

rendered, that even those dearest to us by the ties of 
nature must be given up if necessary, that we must 
in spirit at least renounce all that we have, it will be 
easily seen that there must be a compensation for such 
a sacrifice or the life of the Christian would be less 
complete than before. The universal experience is that 
when the cross has been taken up and self has been put 
down, the new life of love makes the old life seem not 
worth living. "Because the love of God hath been 
shed abroad in our hearts through the" Holy Ghost 
which was given unto us." (Rom. 5:5, R. V.) This 
new life, the first fruit of which is love, gives a joy 
so rich and deep that all sacrifices in the light of it 
seem small indeed. (1) 

As love is the distinctive badge of the Christian life, 
it is also the inspiring motive of that life. "The love 
of Christ constraineth us." (2) As the love of the 
Master fills our hearts we desire to do something for 
him. The fact that few, comparatively, are willing 
to do anything for the Master's sake, make any sacri- 
fices, is proof conclusive that few have the love of 
Christ in their hearts. "If a man love me he will keep 
my word." (3) 

There are perhaps few ways in which selfishness 
shows itself more in our lives, than in our feelings to- 
ward others. In the manifold relations of our daily 



(1) Phil. 3:7, 8. 

(2) II Cor. 5:14. 

(3) John 14:23. 



LOVE. 71 

lives, other people are judged by us largely by the way 
in which they have come in contact, whether intention- 
ally or otherwise, with self. Our judgment of them is 
warped by the fact that they have "hurt our feelings/' 
This homely phrase sometimes provokes a smile as 
though such a hurt could not amount to much, but the 
facts prove the opposite. A light word may to some 
be more painful than a heavy blow. If we find it hard, 
following the Master, to forgive those who have hurt 
us, we soon learn that the cross means even more than 
that, we must learn a still higher lesson, the duty of 
love to those who have wronged us. This comes as a 
natural result when the Spirit of God rules in our 
hearts. "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless 
them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, 
and pray for them which despitefully use you and 
persecute you; that ye may be the children of your 
Father which is in heaven." (i) "Being reviled, we 
bless; being persecuted, we suffer it." (2) 

John 15:12, 17; Matt. 22:34-40; Rom. 13:8-10; 1 
John 4:7-21; 1 Cor. 13, R. V. ; 1 John 2:9-11; Gal. 
5:6, 22\ 1 Peter 1:8; John 8:42, 14:15, 21, 2% R. V. ; 
21:15-17, R. V.; Phil. 3:7, 8; Acts 21:13; Eph. 6:24; 
2 Tim. 4:8; Gal. 2:20; Luke 10:29-37; 1 Thess. 3:12; 
1 John 3:18; 1 Pet. 4:8, R. V.; John 13:1-5; Luke 
6:35; Eph. 4:2, 32; Rom. 12:10, 13:8-10; Col. 3:14, 
R. V.; Eph. 5:1, 2; Jno. 17:26. 



(1) Matt. 5:44, 45. 

(2) I Cor. 4:12. 



72 FOLLOWING THE MASTER. 

"One of the supreme utterances of the Christian rev- 
elation is the word of the Apostle John, 'God is love.' 
As love grows truer to its nature it grows richer in the 
holy spirit of self-sacrifice. Though it may begin with 
self, it is the affection that most effectually kills selfish- 
ness." (i) 

"But under a system in which self-regard, a steady 
fight for one's own interest, is the acknowledged eco- 
nomic principle, love is so manifestly disadvantageous, 
and selfishness has such overgrown prizes for the 
stronger and coarser natures, that love becomes the 
most difficult and despised of all virtues. For in such 
a condition of things it means self-abnegation." (2) 

"I climbed into the tree, and was left there alone in 
the bush. The hours I spent there live all before me as 
if it were but of yesterday. I heard the frequent dis- 
charging of muskets, and the yells of the savages. Yet 
I sat there among the branches, as safe in the arms of 
Jesus ! Never, in all my sorrows, did my Lord draw 
nearer to me, and speak more soothingly in my soul, 
than when the moonlight flickered through those 
chestnut leaves, and the night air playing on my throb- 
bing brow, as I told all my heart to Jesus. Alone, and 
yet not alone ! If it be to glorify my God, I will not 
grudge to spend many nights alone in such a tree, to 
feel again my Saviour's spiritual presence, to enjoy 
his consoling fellowship. If thus thrown back upon 



(1) Clark, An Outline of Christian Theology, pp. 94, 95. 

(2) Gould, Biblical Theology of the New Testament, p. 21. 



LOVE. 73 

your own soul, alone, all, all alone, in the midnight, 
in the bush, in the very embrace of death itself, have 
you a friend that will not fail you then?" (i) 

"If I speak in the tongues of men — aye, and of 
angels, too — but am without love, I have become mere 
echoing brass, or a clanging cymbal ! Even if I have 
the 'prophetic' gift and know all secret truths and 
possess all - knowledge, or even if I have such perfect 
faith as to be able to move mountains, but am without 
love, I am nothing ! If I give all I possess to feed the 
hungry, and even if (to say what is boastful) I sacrifice 
my body, but am without love, I am none the bet- 
ter!" (2) 



(1) Paton's Autobiography, Vol. 1, p. 325. 

(2) 20th Century N. T., I Cor. 13:1-3. 



XIII. 
Prayer. 

The follower of the Master soon learns the necessity 
of prayer if he would continue to "walk in His steps." 
The Master found it necessary to pray in order that 
he might carry his cross, and what was so necessary 
for him cannot be unnecessary for us. It will doubt- 
less- be a surprise to all who have never studied the 
gospel record in that respect, to see how truly the 
Master was a man of prayer. 

"The words pray and prayer are used at least 25 
times in connection with him, and there are many in- 
stances in which the fact of his praying is mentioned 
where the words do not occur. The life of Christ had 
many marked characteristics, but nothing is more 
marked than his prayerf ulness." ( 1 ) 

It will help us to understand our entire dependence 
upon the Father if we remember that the Master was 
just as dependent as we, no more, no less. "The Son 
can do nothing of himself." "I can of mine own self 
do nothing." "Then shall ye know that I am he, and 
that I do nothing of myself." (2) It was therefore in 
perfect accord with his own life that the Master taught 
"Without me ye can do nothing." (3) As our perfect 

(1) Torrey, What the Bible Teaches, p. 128. 

(2) John 5:19, 30; 8:28. 

(3) John 15:5. 

75 



76 FOLLOWING THE MASTER. 

example he had lived the life of entire dependence 
upon God, and we as his followers cannot expect to do 
otherwise, for "The servant is not greater than his 
Lord." (i) 

It will easily be seen, even in theory, how wonder- 
fully adapted this requirement is to eliminate selfish- 
ness from our lives, but only he who has lived such a 
life realizes how fully it is in the way of the cross. 

A union meeting of the Presbyterian and Congre- 
gational ministers of Chicago was held in honor of that 
noble soldier of the cross and veteran missionary, John 
G. Paton, at the time of Mr. Paton's first visit to Chi- 
cago. Two noted divines who had entertained Mr. 
Paton in their homes took occasion near the close of 
the meeting to eulogize the missionary. Those who 
sat near Mr. Paton soon saw that he was far from be- 
ing pleased. When he could speak and faced his 
brethren, the tears were running down his cheeks. 
"Oh, brethren, this pains me very much. I have done 
nothing ; / deserve no credit ; it was the Lord." 

We learn that the Master rose early in the morn- 
ing "a great while before day," to pray; (2) that 
he "continued all night in prayer"; (3) that at times 
he prayed "with strong crying and tears." (4) "Jesus 
Christ prayed before his baptism with the Holy Spirit 
and entrance upon his public ministry ; before enter- 

(1) John 15:20. 

(2) Mk. 1:35. 

(3) Luke 6:12. 

(4) Heb. 5:7. 



PRAYER. 77 

ing upon an evangelistic tour, before choosing the 
twelve, before announcing to the twelve his approach- 
ing death, i. e., before important steps in his life. He 
prepared for the important events of life by especial 
seasons of prayer/' ( I ) 

We learn in the 17th of John of the Master's prayer 
for his disciples the night before his crucifixion ; in the 
gospel record that the agony in Gethsemane was the 
agony of prayer, and that almost his last words from 
the -cross were a prayer for his enemies, "Father, for- 
give them." 

Luke 3:21, 22; Mark 1 135, 38; Luke 6:12, 13, 9:18, 
21; Matt. 14:23; Luke 5:16; Mark 6:46; Matt. 26:36- 
39; Luke 22:39-45, 23:34, 46; John 11:41, 42; John 
6:15; Luke 11 :i-i3- 

The disciples asked, "Lord, teach us to pray," and 
it is as we understand the Master's example and teach- 
ing on the subject of prayer that we realize its abso- 
lute necessity. It was in answer to the disciples' ques- 
tion that we have the Lord's prayer, and the lesson of 
the man who rose from his bed to give his friend three 
loaves because he kept knocking; from this we learn 
how much more our heavenly Father will hear our 
prayers. (2) The Master taught his disciples to pray 
in secret, (3) to pray without "vain repetitions," (4) to 



(1) Torrey, What the Bible Teaches, p. 129. 

(2) Luke 11:1-13. 

(3) Matt. 6:5-6. 

(4) Matt. 6:7. 



78 FOLLOWING THE MASTER. 

forgive, (i) to have faith, (2) but perhaps the most 
remarkable of the Master's teachings on the subject 
are to be found in John: "And whatsoever ye shall 
ask in my name that will I do, that the Father may 
be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in 
my name I will do it." (3) "That whatsoever ye shall 
ask the Father in my name, he may give it you." (4) 
When the Christian has sounded the depths of these 
promises he will find that prayer in the Master's name 
means vastly more than the mere saying, "We ask in 
the name of Christ," at the close of our prayers, for we 
know that many of such prayers are not answered. 
This would demonstrate either that the Master's prom- 
ise was not kept or that we had not complied with the 
conditions. Few will doubt that the latter is the true 
explanation. 

"We have only to remember what the 'name' sig- 
nified in the Hebrew mode of thought to see the pro- 
found meaning of the phrase, 'in my name.' The 
'name' was the symbol of the inmost nature or essence 
of the thing or person which it represented. When 
therefore, we ask in Christ's name, we ask 'in him/ 
in his spirit, which is interpreted to us in the supreme 
prayer of his life, to which reference has been made. 
When we thus pray we ask that our prayers may be as 
his ; that they may be purged of all mere self-seeking, 

(1) Matt. 6:12, 14-15; Mk. 11:25. 

(2) Mk. 11:22-24. 

(3) John 14:13-14. 

(4) John 15:16. 



PRAYER. 79 

and may express the attitude of hearts which are in 
harmony with God's will, and an unshaken confidence 
in his providence and grace." (i) 

"To use Christ's name in prayer surely includes this, 
to follow his example and to pray as he did/' (2) 

Another wonderful promise is, "If ye abide in me 
and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will 
and it shall be done unto you/' (3) 

"If you remain united to me and my teaching re- 
mains in your hearts, ask whatever you wish and you 
shall have it." (4) 

The condition that we must "abide" in Christ would 
seem very similar to asking "in his name." Both im- 
ply complete surrender of self and dependence upon 
Christ until we become, by our life of abiding, practi- 
cally one with Christ. It is this completely surren- 
dered life that can pray in faith and with submission 
to the Father's will, that can say even in the dark hour 
of our Gethsemane, "Not what / will but what thou." 
Paul understood this when he said, "Yet not I, but 
Christ liveth in me." It is this surrendered and un- 
selfish life that asks nothing but what is for the glory 
of the Father, "in the name of Christ," and has a right 
to the answer. 

Still another reason why prayer is a necessity for 
the Christian may be found in that, only as we are kept 

(1) Stevens, Doctrine and Life, p. 222. 

(2) Murray, The Ministry of Intercession, p. 130. 

(3) John 15:7; see also 15:4-6. 

(4) 20th Century New Testament, John 15:7. 



80 FOLLOWING THE MASTER. 

from known sin, and do our whole duty for each day, 
can we have a "conscience void of offense toward God 
and toward men." (i) And no man can say "I can 
do all things," except he say "through Christ which 
strengthened me." (2) 

John 16:23, 24, 26; Rom. 8:26; 1 Jno. 3:22; James 
5:13, R. V.; Luke 18:1; Eph. 6:18, R. V. ; 1 Thess. 
5:17; Eph. 1:16-19, 3:14-19, R. V.; Col. 1:9-11; 1 
Thess. 3:12; Phil. 4:6, 19, R. V., etc. 

"The last utterances of Christ were prayers. The 
last words of the Bible are prayers." (3) 

"Prayer is a part of the intercourse between man 
and God. God approaches man in revelation, man 
approaches God in prayer." "The practice of the 
presence of God" is one of the best definitions of 
prayer." (4) 

"Prayer, then, is the expression of the child's need 
and of the child's claim upon the Father." "God is 
not a reluctant, but a willing, giver. His willingness 
surpasses anything known to earthly love. We do not 
extort his favors from him ; they wait to descend upon 
us so soon as we rightly ask ; that is, so soon as we are 
in a true attitude of trust and receptiveness towards 
them." (5) 

"Jesus told his disciples a story to show them the 
need of always praying and never losing heart." 
"Never cease to pray." (6) 

(1) Acts 24:16. 

(2) Phil. 4:13. 

(3) Torrey, What the Bible Teaches, p. 428. 

. (4) Bradford. The Age of Faith, pp. 218, 227. 

(5) Stevens, Doctrine and Life, pp. 216, 217. 

(6) 20th Century N. T.; Luke 18:1; 1 Thess. 5:17. 



XIV. 
Power as Witnesses. 

When the Master said to his followers, "Ye are the 
salt of the earth." "Ye are the light of the world," ( i ) 
he placed upon them and upon all true disciples a spe- 
cial honor and a glorious responsibility. We are his 
witnesses, the truth of what he taught and promised 
is to find demonstration in our lives. "And ye are 
witnesses of these things." (2) 

It will help to a clearer understanding of its mean- 
ing if we remember that the original of the word trans- 
lated witness is the same from which the word martyr 
is derived. Thus the Century Dictionary defines mar- 
tyr: "1. Originally, a witness; one who bears testi- 
mony to his faith. 2. Specifically, one of those Chris- 
tians who in former times were put to death because 
they would not renounce their religious belief." 

It was evidently a similar conception of the word 
which the Master had when he said to his disciples 
just before his ascension, "And ye shall be witnesses 



(1) Matt. 5:13, 14. 

(2) Lttke 24:48. 

' 81 



82 FOLLOWING THE MASTER. 

unto me." ( I ) He had warned them of the treatment 
they might expect, "Ye shall be hated of all men for 
my name's sake." (2) "If they have persecuted me, 
they will also persecute you ; if they have kept my say- 
ing, they will keep yours also." (3) A great mistake 
has been made in thinking these words do not apply to 
conditions in so-called Christian lands, that they are 
not applicable to-day. The carnal mind is still enmity 
against God and against those who would restrict its 
pleasures. So long as mankind in general is moved 
by selfish motives, there will be need of the martyr 
spirit in those who follow the Master. Such are the 
true witnesses for the Master. While the form of per- 
secution has been greatly changed, and the stake has 
long been a thing of the past, the fact of persecution 
will soon be demonstrated to all who live godly in 
Christ Jesus. It is inevitable ; the spirit of the world, 
which is selfishness, and the spirit of the Christ, which 
is self-sacrifice, are diametrically opposed. 

The unbelieving do not read the Bible, but they do 
read the lives of professing Christians. They are 
moved by selfish motives and their philosophy of life 
is that all others are the same. When they see pro- 
fessing Christians apparently actuated by the same 
motives as themselves, they understand it and at once 
discount the truth of the Christian life ; but when they 



(1) Acts 1:8. 

(2) Luke 21:17. 

(3) Jno. 15:20. 



POWER AS WITNESSES. 83 

see Christians making sacrifices, doing right in the 
name of Christ, counting all things but loss for Christ's 
sake, they know that it is of God and are compelled to 
admit its truth. A consistent Christian life is an un- 
answerable argument. 

"Jesus expected that his kingdom would be extended 
by personal witnessing. He depended upon personal 
witness and personal contact. He did not say that the 
Gospel either spoken or written was the salt of the 
earth; nor did he say that of any organization. He 
said it of the men who had accepted him." ( I ) 

"Were Christ indeed and in truth our Life, how could 
such a falling away from him be possible? Those in 
whom he lived would witness so mightily for Him, 
through their whole life, whether spoken, written or 
acted, that unbelief would be forced to silence." (2) 

"Toward the end of a three day's session in Chicker- 
ing Hall of ministers of every sect who were concerned 
about the losing fight the church was waging amongthe 
masses, a man stood in the meeting and cried out, 'How 
are these men and women to understand the love of God 
you speak of, when they see only the greed of men?' 
He was a builder, Alfred T. White, of Brooklyn, who 
had proved the faith that was in him by building real 
homes for the people, and had proved, too, that they; 
were a paying investment. It was just a question 
whether a man would take seven per cent, and save his 



(1) Gilbert, Revelation of Jesus, pp. 151, 152. 

(2) DeWette. 



84 FOLLOWING THE MASTER. 

soul, or twenty-five and lose it. And I might as well 
add here that it is the same story yet." ( I ) 

It was with a true conception of their high calling 
as witnesses that the Master commanded his disciples, 
"But tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be 
endued with power from on high." (2) "But ye shall 
receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon 
you : and ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jeru- 
salem and in Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the utter- 
most part of the earth." (3) This promise was fulfilled 
on the day of Pentecost, "And they were all filled with 
the Holy Ghost." (4) 

This is evidently a higher experience than the new 
birth, precious as that experience is to all who have 
passed through it. The disciples had been born again, 
they had left all and followed the Master and the new 
life of the Spirit was flowing in their hearts. (5) But 
they were not ready for service as witnesses, to go out 
and conquer the world for the Master until they had 
been "endued with power from on high." 

Various terms are used in the Scriptures in speaking 
of this higher spiritual gift, "baptized with the Holy 
Spirit," "filled with the Holy Spirit," "endued with 
power from on high," "sealing of the Spirit," and 
"anointed with the Holy Ghost and with power," etc., 



(1) Riis, The Making of An American. 

(2) Luke 24:49. 

(3) Acts 1:8. 

(4) Acts 2:4. 

(5) Jno. 15:3 ; 13:10 ; Acts 8:15, 16. 



POWER AS WITNESSES. 85 

but it seems probable that they all refer to the same 
experience or at least to different phases of the same 
experience. 

The purpose for which this wondrous gift is made 
is that we may be witnesses for the Master, "living 
epistles known and read of all men." Few rich men 
of themselves would sell all and follow the Master, 
but by "power from on high" would be able to make 
the sacrifice and thus demonstrate that in one life at 
least the love of Christ is stronger than the love of 
wealth. With the power of God working in his heart 
the true Christian is enabled to make sacrifices that 
would be impossible to him without such power. Mr. 
Paton alone on the island of Tanna, surrounded by 
cannibals, his life in danger almost every moment, was 
kept by the power of God. A great spiritual power 
strengthened him with "might by the Spirit in the inner 
man," so that he counted not his life dear unto him. 
Not all followers of the Master are called to be mis- 
sionaries among cannibals, but all are called to be wit- 
nesses of the power of God in their lives, no matter 
how humble their sphere or humdrum their duties. 
The weary mother with manifold worries and perplexi- 
ties, with the thousand annoyances that fret and rasp 
the spirit, can witness to husband, children and friends 
that through the Master she is enabled to be patient 
and endure. And so for each and every one. 

"The baptism of the Holy Spirit is always connected 
with testimony or service. (See i Cor. 12:4-13; Acts 



86 FOLLOWING THE MASTER. 

1:5-8; Luke 24:49; Acts 2:4, 4:8, 31, 7:55, 9:17, 20, 

10:45, 46, 19:6). (1) 

As no two persons have exactly the same abilities, 
so no two are called to exactly the same duties and re- 
sponsibilities. "To every man his work." (2) For 
this reason, "There are diversities of gifts but the same 
spirit." (3) Having taken up our cross, and following 
our Master's example, prayed, "Not what / will, but 
what thou wilt," and received the power from on high, 
we are ready for the humblest duty, or the most dan- 
gerous position. Our one concern must be not so 
much where we are but what we are, witnesses in our 
lives as to the truth of the gospel. (4) 

"The baptism of the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God 
falling upon the believer, taking possession of his facul- 
ties, imparting to him gifts not naturally his own, but 
which qualify him for the service to which God has 
called him." (5) 

The conditions upon which this blessing is received 
are the same as those upon which we entered the new 
life, it is still the way of the cross. There is this differ- 
ence, however, that the cross means more than at first, 
the thrust of the sword of the spirit is deeper and the 
light of the spirit in our hearts is brighter. These are 
stages of development and indicate our growth in 
grace. 

(1) Torrey, How to Bring Men to Christ, p. 106. 

(2) Mk. 13:34. 

(3) I. Cor. 12:4. 

(4) I. Cor. 12:4-14. 

(5) Torrey, How to Bring Men to Christ, p. 110. 



POWER AS WITNESSES. 87 

As we pray, "Give us this day our daily bread," so 
we soon find that the filling of the Spirit for yester- 
day's duties will not suffice for the duties of to-day. 
"As thy days so shall thy strength be." ( I ) The Mas- 
ter received a special spiritual blessing for each time 
of special duty and trial and we cannot need less. To 
be "filled with the Spirit" is not only a blessed privilege 
for eacE follower of the Master, but is a necessity, 
which becomes the greater the more we know of what 
the Christian life means. There is apparently great 
need of knowledge on this subject by many professing 
Christians. 

The Master is our perfect example in this as in other 
respects. We learn that even he did not enter upon 
his public ministry until he had been baptized with 
the Holy Ghost (Jno. 1:29-33; Luke 3:21, 22; Matt. 
3:16) ; that the Spirit was given to him without meas- 
ure (Jno. 3:34) ; that he was led of the Spirit (Luke 
4:1 ; Mark 1 :i2, R. V. ; Rom. 8:14) ; that he spake in 
the power of the Spirit (Jno 3:34, R. V.) ; that he 
taught his disciples in the power of the Spirit (Acts 
I \2) ; worked miracles in the power of the Spirit 
(Matt. 12:28), and that by the Spirit he was raised 
from the dead (Rom. 8:11). Remembering these facts 
we can better understand what the Master meant 
when he said, "I can of my own self do nothing." "I 
do nothing of myself." (2) 



(1) Dent. 33:25. 

(2) Jno. 5:30; 8:28. 



88 FOLLOWING THE MASTER. 

There is one promise of the Master, with reference to 
the Holy Spirit, that every true follower may well carry 
in his heart. "If ye then being evil, know How to give 
good gifts unto your children; how much more shall 
your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to tnem 
that ask him." (i) 

Luke 4:14, 18; Jno. 3:5, 6, 8, 4:23, 24, 6:63, 14:17, 
15:26, 16:13; Acts 2:4, 17, 18, 38, 8:14-17, 29, 39, 
21:4; Rom. 8:9, 11, 13, 16, 23, 26, 15:13; 1 Cor. 2:4, 
10, 12, 14, 15, 6:11, 14:15; 2 Cor. i:2i-:22, 3:3, 6, 8; 
Eph. 1:13, 3:16, 4:30, 5:18; Jno. 16:7-15; Rev. 22:17. 

f 'We conceive that the great end for which the en- 
duement of the Spirit is bestowed is our qualification 
for the highest and most effective service in the church 
of Christ." (2) 

"Man is a vessel destined to receive God, a vessel 
which must be enlarged in proportion as it is rilled, and 
filled in proportion as it is enlarged." (3) 

"The doctrine of the Spirit proclaims that God is 
very near us, and that forces of the spiritual and eter- 
nal order constantly penetrate our life. This concep- 
tion makes religion intensely real. It is the divine life 
in man. Eternal life is already here; the world of 
time and sense is swallowed up in the world of the 
Spirit and life is transfigured by the presence and the 
love of God." (4) 



(1) 


Luke 11:13; Matt. 7:11. 


(2) 


Gordon, Ministry of the Spirit, p. 74. 


(3) 


Godet. 


(4) 


Stevens, Doctrine and Life, p. 125. 



LofC. 



XV. 
The Transformation. 

We ought now to be in a position to ask why these 
exacting conditions in the life of the Christian, why it 
is necessary for Him to be willing to leave all, why it is 
necessary that he should forsake all known sin, why he 
should be expected to prove his faith by his works, in 
short, why he should carry his cross? 

We may be certain that if these conditions are of 
God, there is an adequate reason for them, if we can 
apprehend the truth sufficiently to grasp the reason, 
for the Heavenly Father can ask nothing unreason- 
able. 

We have learned that salvation is a process now go- 
ing on in the heart of every Christian, and that the 
result of that process when its requirements are obeyed 
is to bring the follower of the Master to a state of 
righteousness; in other words we follow Christ's ex- 
ample and his life in our small way in order that we 
may become like him, "conformed to his image." This 
is indeed a high standard to be reached and nothing 
short of the power of God is sufficient to enable us to 
reach it. This process is called by the apostle Paul, 
transformation. "And be not conformed to this world, 

89 



90 FOLLOWING THE MASTER. 

but be ye transformed by the renewing of your minds." 

(i) 

Scholars differ somewhat as to the exact interpre- 
tation of the two words "conformed" and "trans- 
formed," but it is enough for our present purpose to 
remember that the process of conformation, whatever 
it may be, is what we as Christians are to avoid, and 
transformation is to have full play in our lives. 

It will help to a clearer understanding of this pro- 
cess if we recall- once more that we are beings with 
dual natures, flesh and spirit. Each may, choose the 
life he will live, the life of the flesh or the life of the 
spirit, the life of selfishness or the life of love. It is 
an undisputed fact, that character results from conduct. 
Because of this, God may rightly judge men by their 
deeds, knowing the motives which prompt the deeds. 
The man who lies becomes a liar, the man who steals 
a thief. Inevitably character is formed, and the heart 
of the man stamps itself upon the face, so that the 
habitual sinner proclaims to those who may be able to 
read the lines, the nature of his sin. Indeed, it may 
be said to be written not only on the lines of his face 
but in every curve of his body. The tramp who is a 
tramp by choice and not of necessity proclaims the 
fact by every step he takes. 

The revised version of Rom. 12 :2 gives a better idea 
of this word conformed. "Be not fashioned according 

(1) Rom. 12:2. 



THE TRANSFORMATION. 91 

to this world/' There is the idea suggested of mold- 
ing influences from without and from the baser part of 
man's nature that make him a degraded being. "To be 
carnally minded is death." (i) The process by which 
Christian character is formed is the opposite to this. 
Conformation works from below and from without, 
debasing, degrading, damning; while transformation 
works from above and within, through the spirit of 
the man, uplifting, ennobling, saving. It may be a 
blessed ihing to help another, but it is certainly more 
blessed to enable him to help himself. 

Paul evidently has the process of transformation in 
mind when he says, "But we all, with unveiled face re- 
flecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord, are trans- 
formed into the same image from glory to glory, even 
as from the Lord the Spirit." (2) "And all of us with 
unveiled faces, see, as if reflected in a mirror, the 
splendor of the Lord, and are being transformed into 
his likeness, from one degree of splendor to another, 
as it comes from the Lord, even the Spirit." (3) 

As followers of the Master, walking in his steps, 
each carrying his own cross, there is a sense in which 
we too are crucified and can say with Paul, "I am 
crucified with Christ," but may we expect to find any 
analogy to the process of transformation in the life of 
our Master. We are treading holy ground and each 



(1) Rom. 8:6. 

(2) II Cor. 3:18, R. V. 

(3) 20th Century N. T.; II Cor. 3:18. 



92 FOLLOWING THE MASTER. 

step must be with due reverence, but if we have rightly 
apprehended the Christian life in these studies, there 
must be a sense in which even in this that we follow 
the Master. He had a fleshly nature even as we and 
was part of our humanity. If he did not contend with 
influences of heredity and environment, he could not 
have been "tempted in all points like as we are." 

We have accounts of the Master's transfiguration in 
the gospels. "And his face did shine as the sun, and 
his raiment was white as the light." (Matt. 17 :2 ; Mark 
9:23). The Greek word translated "transfigured" in 
these passages is the same word that is translated 
"transformed" in Rom. 12 :2, and "changed" in 2 Cor. 
3 : 18 in the A. V. and "transformed" in the revised. It 
is the same word and whatever meaning it may have in 
one connection, it ought, it would seem, to have a 
similar meaning in the others. 

Some conceive that the Master was transfigured by a 
light from heaven, but it is worthy of note that the 
bright cloud did not appear until after his transfigur- 
ation. Luke tells us that the Lord was transfigured 
"as he prayed," (Luke 9 128, 29) . How far the analogy 
will hold between our transformation and the Lord's 
transfiguration it is doubtless very difficult, if at all 
possible, to say, but that we as his followers in some 
stage of our experience, follow him even in this, would 
seem a necessary conclusion. It was by the Spirit that 
the Lord lived, and it was by the Spirit he was trans- 
figured. It is by the same Spirit according to our 



THE TRANSFORMATION. 93 

measure that we are transformed. This process begins 
at the New Birth, but when it ends eternity alone shall 
tell. What Christian worker has not seen faces trans- 
formed in a moment, with a new light and peace and 
joy, and has watched the process by which the old 
stamp of selfishness on the face is changed, and the 
countenance transformed. 

A most striking illustration of this truth may be 
found in the story of Delia as told by Mrs. E. M. 
Whittemore of the "Door of Hope," a home for fallen 
women in New York City. Mrs. Whittemore has two 
pictures of Delia on one page, and entitles it "The 
Work of Grace as Shown in a Human Face, small 
pictures taken three months after being rescued ; large 
picture taken about a year later." 

The small picture has the light of peace and salva- 
tion in the eyes, but the lines of the face speak clearly 
of the life she had led ; but the larger picture shows a 
face that has been truly transformed. 

Another proof of this principle may be seen in the 
pictures of reformed drunkards as given in appendix 
A to "The King's Business," or proceedings of World's 
Convention of Christian Workers at Boston, Novem- 
ber, 1892. The faces of thirty-nine men and one 
woman who have been saved from drunkenness. This 
process of transformation by necessity includes our 
sanctification, for it can be only as sin is discovered and 
forsaken that the Spirit of God can work this change 
in our characters. 



94 FOLLOWING THE MASTER. 

Is there not reason enough then in the very nature 
of the process by which we are saved, for the exacting 
conditions of the Christian life ? The cross, one's own 
cross, is an absolute necessity. We thus see why pro- 
fessing Christians who have lost the Spirit of sacrifice 
are like salt that has lost its savour and are henceforth 
"good for nothing/' certainly as Christians. 

Luke 9:29; Rom. 8:11; 1 Cor. 15:52; 1 Jno. 3:2, 
R. V.; Acts 6:15; Exodus 34:29-35; 2 Cor. 4:16; 3:3. 

"Under the right conditions it is as natural for char- 
acter to become beautiful as for a flower, and if on 
God's earth there is not some machinery for effecting 
it the supreme gift to the world has been forgotten." ( I ) 

"The Christian is engaged in a process of transfor- 
mation, metamorphosis (Rom. 12:2), in which certain- 
ly not without great effort, there is to be a mental re- 
newing, and the end of which is the proving of the 
perfect will of God." "No limit of years is set when 
the transformation into the image of the Lord shall be 
perfect (2 Cor. 3:18) ; when the sanctification which 
God works shall be complete (1 Thess. 5 :2^). Jf (2) 

"But having the Spirit dwelling in us we have, even 
now, the first fruits of this transformation in the daily 
renewing of our inward man, in the helping and heal- 
ing and strengthening which sometimes comes to our 
bodies through the hidden life of the Holy Ghost. 
Sanctification is progressive, waiting to be consum- 



er Drummond, The Changed Life. 

(2) Gilbert, First Interpreters of Jesus, pp. 85, 89. 



THE TRANSFORMATION. 95 

mated in the future; so is glorification in some sense 
progressive, since by the presence of the Spirit we al- 
ready have the earnest of the glory that is to be." ( I ) 

The Christian life is at once the highest of callings 
and the noblest of ambitions ; it has fellowship of love 
and peace with both God and man ; it receives greatest 
blessings for itself while giving greatest blessings to 
others; it asks the emptiness of human hearts, that it 
may fill them with the fulness of God; it frees the 
slaves of sin that it may lead them into the glorious 
liberty of the children of God. 

In its light, life is a school, death is an incident, 
heaven is home. In God's wonderful loom of life 
where flesh and spirit are warp and woof, it weaves 
the cloth of gold of transformed character. It has 
for Friend, Teacher, King and Saviour, the Son of 
God Himself, who said: 

"Follow me!" "I am the way, and the truth, and 
the life ; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." 
"He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet 
shall he live : and whosoever liveth and believeth in me 
shall never die." 



(1) Gordon, Ministry of the Spirit, p. 120. 



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